A pedestrian crosses a flooded street following heavy rainfall in Paris on October 17, 2024.
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LONDON — European stocks moved into positive territory on Wednesday as quarterly earnings roll in, following a negative start to the session.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged higher above the flatline on Wednesday, as of 11:13 a.m. in London (6:13 a.m. in ET).
The main indexes, however, were choppier. Germany’s DAX was last seen dipping into the red, Italy’s FTSE MIB was down over 0.4%, and France’s CAC 40 saw losses of around 0.2%, each partially paring earlier losses.
The U.K.’s FTSE index was one of the few green shoots, up 0.86%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 moves
Looking at individual stocks, British lender Barclays raised its guidance and announced a £500 million ($667 million) share buyback in its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Its shares moved over 4% higher.
L’Oreal stocks were down over 6% after quarterly growth disappointed markets, despite like-for-like sales growth of 3.4%, with sluggish North America sales and the impact tariffs weighing on the French firm. It did, however, post growth in China. L’Oreal is set to purchase Gucci owner Kering’s beauty business.
The world’s second-largest brewer, Heineken, expects to sell less beer in 2025 as demand was softened by macroeconomic challenges in the third quarter. Beer volumes dropped by 2.3% in the third quarter. The firm narrowed its full-year forecast, predicting volumes will be towards the lower end of the 4% to 8% guidance. Its shares rose 0.8%.
Shares of Birkin bag maker Hermes tumbled 3.8% in late morning trade, after the firm reported weaker-than-expected third quarter sales of 3.9 billion euros. The figure marked a 10% jump from the same period a year earlier at constant exchange rates. Its leather goods and saddlery division — which includes handbags — led growth with a year-on-year constant currency sales boost of 13%, which the company labeled “a remarkable performance.”
Meanwhile, Randstad, the world’s largest recruitment firm, shed 7.7% of its share price as it reported a year-on-year drop in revenue, operating profit, and net income. Revenue fell 3.4% in the third quarter to 5.8 billion euros.
ITV sat alongside Randstad at the bottom of the European Stoxx 600 index, falling 8.5%, as investors reacted to news that its largest shareholder Liberty Global has sold half of its shares.
Novo Nordisk continues to see losses, falling 2.8% during the session, as investors respond to news on Tuesday that board members will step down after clashing with the controlling shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, on the make-up of the firm.
Unicredit beats
Italian bank Unicredit also posted quarterly earnings above expectations on Wednesday, describing the three months to the end of September as a record quarter. Net profit came in at 2.6 billion euros ($3.02 billion), above a company-compiled average forecast of 2.4 billion euros. Its shares were last seen 1.4% lower.
Speaking to CNBC Wednesday, Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel discussed his bank’s relationship with Commerzbank, which it has built a 26% stake in over the past year.
“I’ve not given up [on Commzerbank],” he told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro. ” We are observing, as an investor, how much more value they can create.”
Orcel had pushed for a full takeover of the German lender, but was met with continuous resistance from both the bank and the Berlin administration.
Orcel also noted that Unicredit was likely to raise its stake in Greek lender Alpha bank to around 30%.
Other earnings are in the cards, with Reckitt Benckiser Group, DNB Bank, Svenska Handelsbanken and Aker due to report. SAP will report in the evening.
The latest U.K. inflation figures reveal inflation was unchanged at 3.8% in September, beating expectations of a marginal rise.
Regional stocks closed higher on Tuesday, but the positive momentum appears to have stalled, perhaps as investors assess that the prospect of a peace deal for Ukraine look slim, for now.
U.S. President Donald Trump was due to hold talks about resolving the war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Hungary in the next few weeks, but those have been put on hold, a U.S. official said Tuesday, NBC News reported.
The decision was reportedly made following a call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Trump has seesawed over his support for Ukraine, suggesting last week that Kyiv should be ready to concede territory to Russia.
– CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this report.
