European Market Indexes Extended October Losses; Eurozone Inflation Rebounded In October

Bridgette Randall
31 Oct, 2024
London

European stock market indexes turned lower for the third session in a row as investors reviewed the latest batch of earnings and the economic releases. 

Benchmark indexes in Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, and London headed lower and extended losses for the month. 

The eurozone consumer price inflation rebounded to 2.0% in October from 1.7% in September, which was the lowest since April 2021, Eurostat reported on Thursday. 

The rebound in inflation was expected because of the base effects of last year, as last year's sharp declines in energy prices are no longer impacting annual calculations. 

Germany's retail sales unexpectedly rose in September, driven by a larger-than-expected increase in non-food sales. 

Retail sales rose on an annual basis by 3.8% and on a monthly basis by 1.2% in September, the Federal Statistical Office, or Destatis, reported Thursday. 

 

Europe Indexes and Yields

The DAX index decreased by 0.5% to 19,161.70; the CAC-40 index fell by 0.9% to 7,360.22; and the FTSE 100 index fell by 0.8% to 8,093.66. 

The yield on 10-year German bonds edged higher to 2.40%, French bonds inched higher to 3.13%, the UK gilts edged higher to 4.41%, and Italian bonds increased to 3.65%.

The euro edged lower to $1.08; the British pound inched higher to $1.29; and the U.S. dollar weakened to 86.60 Swiss cents.

Brent crude increased $0.38 to $72.55 a barrel, and the Dutch TTF natural gas fell by €1.26 to €40.26 per MWh. 

 

Europe Stock Movers

Airbus SE increased 1.6% to €142.04 after the commercial aviation company reaffirmed its target to deliver 770 aircraft in the current year.

TotalEnergies SE declined 2.9% to €57.43 after the French energy company reported lower-than-expected adjusted earnings in the third quarter.

Societe Generale increased 9.3% to €25.92 after the French lender reported strong quarterly results and a broad management shakeup. 

BNP Paribas SA declined 5.5% to €61.92 after the French bank reported weaker-than-expected third quarter earnings.

Revenue increased 3.1% to 11.9 billion from €11.6 billion, and net income increased 7.8% from a year ago to €2.87 billion from €2.66 billion. 

Equities trading division revenue rose 13% to €820 million, and revenue from trading of bonds, currencies, and commodities advanced 12% to €1.2 billion. 

Corporate and institutional banking divisions reported an increase of 9% in revenue.

However, revenue from the Commercial, Personal Banking, and Services division, the largest division by revenue, decreased 2.6% from a year earlier, largely because of weakness in the automobile lease segment. 

Last month, the company agreed to acquire the German private banking operation of HSBC as the company looked for ways to strengthen its wealth management unit in Germany and increase its asset under management to €40 billion. 

The company retained its full-year net income target of €11.2 billion. 

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA declined 4.9% to €55.52 after the brewery reported a decline in beer sales volume due to weakness in China and Argentina.