Major European Markets Close Weak; UK Market Outperforms

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors reacted to earnings updates and other corporate news, in addition to following the developments on the trade front and digesting geopolitical news. Disappointing results from streaming giant Netflix rendered the mood cautious.

A lack of progress in Ukraine peace talks and some disappointing updates from French luxury firms weighed as well.

Among the major markets in Europe, Germany and France closed weak, with their respective indices DAX and CAC 40 drifting down by 0.28% and 0.71%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.74% thanks to softer-than-expected inflation data.

Switzerland's SMI edged down by 0.07%. The pan European Stoxx 600 shed 0.21%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Netherlands ended weak. Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

In the UK market, Howden Joinery and Persimmon both gained about 6.3%. Barratt Redrow, Entain, Segro, Berkeley Group Holdings, DCC, Intercontinental Hotels Grup, Whitbread and WPP gained 3 to 5%.

Barclays surged nearly 5%. The lender announced a surprise 500-million-pound ($670 million) share buyback and upgraded its performance target for the year.

Associated British Foods, Land Securities, Kingfisher, Severn Trent, Easyjet, Londonmetric Property, Legal & General, Games Workshop and United Utilities also posted strong gains.

Rolls-Royce Holdings fell 2.82%. Fresnillo, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Melrose Industries, Glencore, Burberry Group and Scottish Mortgage also closed notably lower.

In the German market, Siemens Energy, Infineon, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, E.ON, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, BMW and Rheinmetall lost 1 to 4%.

Continental, Siemens Healthineers, Scout24, Hannover Rueck, Adidas, Henkel, Fresenius Medical Care, Heidelberg Materials and Bayer closed on a firm note.

Adidas closed sharply lower despite reporting strong third-quarter results and raising its annual operating profit outlook. The stock was weighed down by JP Morgan lowering its price target slightly.

In the French market, L'Oreal dropped nearly 7% as results fell short of expectations. L'Oréal announced a 4.2% increase in third-quarter sales to €10.33 billion but missed analyst expectations.

Hermes International closed weak by about 2.3%. The company eported third-quarter sales of €3.9 billion, up 10% at constant exchange rates compared with the previous quarter.

STMicroElectronics ended nearly 3% down. Stellantis, Kering, Michelin, EssilorLuxottica, Safran, Schneider Electric and Legrand also declined sharply.

Edenred gained more than 4.5%. ArcelorMittal climbed by about 2%. Thales, Pernod Ricard, Unibail Rodamco, Vinci, LVMH and Eurofins Scientific also closed notably higher.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed consumer prices in UK rose 3.8% year-on-year in September, the same rate of growth as seen in August. Prices were expected to climb 4%.

Meanwhile, core inflation eased marginally to 3.5% from 3.6% in August.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices and core consumer prices remained flat in September.

Another report from the ONS showed that input prices dropped unexpectedly by 0.1% in September, while the expected rate was +0.3%. Similarly, output prices remained flat compared to the forecast of 0.2% rise.

Year-on-year, input prices gained 0.8% and output prices moved up 3.4% in September.