European equities turned lower on Thursday afternoon, giving back early gains as investors positioned themselves ahead of upcoming economic releases following the end of the longest U.S. federal shutdown in history. The shutdown concluded late Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed a temporary funding package.
The Republican-controlled House approved the short-term measure with a 222 to 209 vote, with two members not voting.
After signing the bill in the Oval Office, Trump said the government would now “resume normal operations” after “people were hurt so badly” during the prolonged closure.
The agreement includes stopgap funding that keeps the U.S. government operating until January 30.
While markets remain cautious, expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month helped limit downside pressure on equity indexes.
Across major European benchmarks, the U.K. and Germany traded in negative territory, while France remained firmly higher.
The Stoxx 600 edged up 0.11%, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.34%, the DAX dropped 0.4%, and the CAC 40 gained 0.69%.
U.K. movers
In London, 3I Group (LSE:III) plunged nearly 16%, despite a sharp rise in first-half profit, after the firm flagged tougher conditions ahead and softer recent performance at Action, the discount retailer that dominates its portfolio.
First-half profit climbed to £3.287 billion, up from £2.048 billion, while EPS increased to 339.8p from 211.6p.
Heavyweights including Aviva (LSE:AV.), WPP (LSE:WPP), Admiral Group (LSE:ADM), SSE (LSE:SSE), Barratt Redrow (LSE:BTRW), Vodafone (LSE:VOD), BP (LSE:BP.), Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (LSE:CCEP), Kingfisher (LSE:KGF), Bunzl (LSE:BNZL), Entain (LSE:ENT), GSK (LSE:GSK), Shell (LSE:SHEL), Smith & Nephew (LSE:SN.), and Compass Group (LSE:CPG) traded 1% to 2.5% lower.
Bright spots included Endeavour Mining (LSE:EDV), soaring 11.5% after a strong Q3 supported by stronger gold prices and robust output.
Burberry Group (LSE:BRBY) advanced after reporting its first-half pretax loss narrowed to £48 million from £80 million.
Convatec Group (LSE:CTEC) rose 6.5%, while Fresnillo, Spirax Group, Persimmon, Metlen Energy & Metals, IAG, Hiscox, Experian, Babcock International, Standard Chartered, and EasyJet posted moderate to sharp gains.
Germany
In Frankfurt, Siemens dropped 5.5% after quarterly earnings fell to €1.619 billion (€2.05 per share) from €1.900 billion (€2.38) a year earlier.
Siemens Healthineers slipped 3.2%, while RWE and E.ON lost 2.1% and 2%, respectively.
Fresenius Medical Care, Beiersdorf, and Fresenius also weakened.
Meanwhile, Merck climbed more than 6% after Q3 net profit increased to €898 million (€2.07 per share) from €812 million (€1.86). Pre-exceptional EPS edged up to €2.32.
Munich RE, Bayer, MTU Aero Engines, Hannover Rück, and Infineon gained between 1% and 1.7%.
France
In Paris, Kering, Teleperformance, Crédit Agricole, Bouygues, Société Générale, Saint-Gobain, AXA, Unibail-Rodamco, Thales, Dassault Systèmes, and TotalEnergies advanced 1% to 2.5%.
Carrefour rose more than 1.5% after the Saadé family acquired a 4% stake, becoming the company’s new majority shareholder.
Edenred slid 1.9%, while Pernod Ricard dropped 1.5% and Legrand, Publicis Groupe, and Hermès International posted modest declines.
Economic data
- Eurozone industrial production rose 0.2% MoM in September after a 1.1% decline in August. YoY growth held at 1.2%, missing forecasts of 2.1%.
- France’s unemployment rate ticked up to 7.7% in Q3 from a revised 7.6%.
- U.K. GDP grew 0.1% in Q3, slowing from 0.3%. Monthly GDP fell 0.1%, following no growth in August.
- The U.K. visible trade deficit narrowed to £18.89 billion from £19.53 billion.
Leave a Reply