European Stocks Edge Higher; Corporate Earnings Season in Full Swing

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets edged higher Wednesday, as traders digested a deluge of quarterly corporate earnings, particularly from the important banking sector.

By 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 0.5% higher, the CAC 40 in France edged 0.2% higher, while U.K.'s FTSE 100 traded largely flat.

The European corporate earnings season is in full swing, and investors are wading through a plethora of results while keeping a wary eye on the European Central Bank, which is expected to raise interest rates by a hefty 75 basis points on Thursday.

The European banking sector is in the spotlight, with Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) stock down 1.9% after the German banking giant warned of an "increasingly challenging" environment and "intensified" cost pressures even as it posted a better-than-expected 475% jump in third-quarter profit.

Barclays (LON:BARC) stock fell 1.3% after the British lender announced an uptick in provisions as well as a better-than-expected profit in the third quarter, helped by a strong performance in fixed income trading.

UniCredit (BIT:CRDI) stock rose 2.7% after the Italian bank raised its 2022 profit goal, while Santander (BME:SAN) stock fell 4.8% after the Spanish lender announced a rise in loan loss provisions and costs.

Elsewhere, Heineken (AS:HEIN) stock slumped 8% after the Dutch brewing giant missed consensus forecasts for sales in the third quarter and warned of a slowdown ahead.

Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RKT) stock fell 3.5% despite the consumer goods retailer predicting full-year sales would be at the upper end of previous guidance and reported better than expected quarterly sales.

The tech sector traded lower after disappointing results from Google-owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) overnight signaling a weak start to the U.S. Big Tech earnings week.

Back in Europe, ASM International (AS:ASMI) stock fell 7.1%, after the Dutch semiconductor company said it expected new U.S. export restrictions to weigh heavily on its sales in China.

The economic data calendar is quiet in Europe Wednesday, with French consumer confidence figures for October the highlight, climbing to 82, from 79 in September. 

Oil prices dipped Wednesday after industry data indicated that U.S. crude stocks grew more than expected last week, reinforcing fears that a slowdown in the world’s largest economy will hit demand.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories grew by 4.5 million barrels in the week to Oct. 21, more than expectations for a build of 200,000 barrels. 

Traders will look towards the release of an official report from the Energy Information Administration later in the session for confirmation. 

By 04:05 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $85.19 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.3% to $91.46. 

Additionally, gold futures rose 1.2% to $1,677.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.7% higher at 1.0033.