Major European Markets Close Flat As Investors React To Earnings Ahead Of Fed Policy

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings announcements and looked ahead to the monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve later in the day.

A sharp rise in oil prices rendered the mood a bit cautious.

The European Central Bank is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Thursday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down by 0.23%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted lower by 0.3%, Germany's DAX edged down 0.08% and France's CAC 40 crept up 0.07%. Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.11%.

Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland and Sweden ended on firm note.

Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Russia and Türkiye closed marginally up. Finland, Netherlands and Spain ended weak, while Portugal closed flat.

In the UK market, Whitbread climbed more than 5%. Centrica moved up 3.5%.

Standard Chartered ended 2.7% up. The lender reported higher quarterly earnings. In the third quarter, profit before taxation increased 27% to $2.25 billion from $1.77 billion last year. Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders rose 46% to $1.50 billion from prior year's $1.03 billion, while earnings per share climbed 55% to 67.0 cents from 43.2 cents a year ago.

Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Halma, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Babcock International, BP, National Grid, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Metlen Energy & Metals, Spirax, Diploma and Convatec Group also closed notably higher.

GSK ended lower by more than 5% despite beating third-quarter sales and profit expectations. The company reported third-quarter profit before tax of 1.935 billion pounds, compared with 2.456 billion pounds in the prior year. Earnings per share declined to 38.5 pence from 49.9 pence, a year ago. GSK reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance at constant exchange rates.

Barratt Redrow dropped nearly 7%. Informa ended down 3%. Kingfisher, J Sainsbury, Airtel Africa, Unilever, Marks & Spencer, Relx, Pearson, Fresnillo, Burberry Group, Bunzl, IG Group Holdings, Associated British Foods and IAG also ended notably lower.

In the German market, Symrise tanked nearly 10% after the company flagged slower year-end organic growth and margin pressure, despite delivering stronger sales volumes and a modest quarterly growth beat.

Symrise reported Group sales of 1.31 billion euros in the third quarter, compared with 1.22 billion euros in the prior-year quarter. Organic sales growth was 5.3% in third quarter. Symrise reaffirmed full-year 2026 outlook. Organic sales growth is projected in a range of 2% to 4%, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 21.5% to 22.5%.

Zalando drifted down 2.1%. Deutsche Post, Heidelberg Materials, Rheinmetall and Scout24 also closed on weak note.

Deutsche Bank rallied nearly 4% after third-quarter profit topped forecasts. The lender reported Wednesday higher third-quarter profit with increased revenues and assets under management. Further, the firm confirmed fiscal 2026 outlook.

In the third quarter, Deutsche Bank's net profit was €1.85 billion, 2% higher than last year's €1.82 billion. Earnings per share were €0.94, up 6% from the prior year.

Siemens Energy climbed 3.7%. Infineon, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens, E.ON, BMW, RWE, Beiersdorf, BASF, Porsche Automobil Holding, Daimler Truck Holding and MTU Aero Engines gained 1%-2%.

In the French market, Stellantis soared 15.5% after confirming full-year revenue guidance. Net revenues came in at €37.6 billion for the third-quarter, up 1% from the same period last year.

The net loss narrowed to €453 million, a 90% improvement from the prior-year period. Adjusted operating income reached €256 million, compared with €90 million in the third quarter of 2025.

Danone and Legrand both moved up nearly 3%. Accor, Schneider Electric and Renault gained 1.8%, 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.

Dassault Systemes ended down 4.5%. EssilorLuxottica shed 2.2%. Saint Gobain slipped more than 1% despite posting a 1.8% rise in Q3 sales and confirming its 2026 outlook.

ArcelorMittal, Teleperformance, Kering, Saint-Gobain, Carrefour, L'Oreal and Publicis Groupe lost 1%-2%.

German consumer confidence is set to weaken in November due to rising inflation concerns and subdued income prospects, survey data from the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions and the GfK market research institute showed Wednesday. The forward-looking consumer climate index fell slightly to -30.8 in November from -30.6 in October. The reading was expected to improve to -30.1.