Most stock indices of Western European countries are moderately declining on Thursday, investors appreciate a large number of quarterly reports of large European companies.
In addition, market participants are waiting for the results of the October meeting of the European Central Bank. The ECB is expected to raise key interest rates again by 75 bp.
The European Central Bank is constrained from refusing to raise significant interest rates anytime soon as eurozone consumer price growth is likely to have not peaked yet, Mark Dowding, chief investment officer at BlueBay Asset Management, told Dow Jones.
The composite index of the largest companies in the Stoxx Europe 600 region decreased by 0.22% by 11:27 a.m. and amounted to 409.42 points.
The German DAX fell 0.2%, as did the French CAC 40. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 shed 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the British stock index FTSE 100 added 0.3%.
Shares of Credit Suisse Group AG plunged 11%. The Swiss bank announced the placement of new shares worth up to 4 billion francs ($4.07 billion) and the sale of part of the investment business, and also announced a likely reduction in staff by 9 thousand employees. The cost of the reorganization will amount to about $2.9 billion over two years.
In addition, on Thursday, Credit Suisse released its financial statements for the third quarter. The bank’s net loss in July-September amounted to 4.03 billion Swiss francs ($4.09 billion) against a profit of 434 million francs a year earlier. Quarterly revenue fell by 30% to 3.8 billion francs.
The price of TotalEnergies securities is growing by 2.1%. The French oil and gas company increased its net profit by 43% year-on-year in the last quarter thanks to higher oil and natural gas prices.
Shell capitalization increases by 3.3%. The British-Dutch energy giant cut third-quarter net income by almost three times from the previous quarter, but the adjusted figure was better than market forecasts.
The market value of Deutsche Lufthansa AG is growing by 1.6%. The airline posted a net profit in the last quarter, almost doubled its revenue and announced its recovery from the pandemic crisis.
Lloyds shares are down 1.3% after the British bank reported a 26% decline in pre-tax profit in the third quarter, to 1.51 billion pounds, due to write-offs due to worsening macroeconomic forecasts.
Shares of Banco de Sabadell shed 0.5%, although the Spanish bank increased quarterly net profit to 317 million euros from 149 million euros a year earlier and approved an increase in the dividend payout rate to 40% of profit.
Unilever shares are down 0.1% in London on Thursday and 0.2% in Amsterdam. One of the world’s leading FMCG suppliers increased its turnover by 17.8% last quarter as higher prices offset lower sales volumes.
Meanwhile, on Thursday it became known that the leading index of German consumer confidence in the country’s economy rose slightly from a historic low.
The November indicator, calculated by the research company GfK, was minus 41.9 points compared to the revised minus 42.8 points in October, which generally coincided with experts’ expectations. The index rose for the first time in five months.
The value of the indicator fell to minus 42.5 points compared to minus 36.8 points in September. A record low is recorded following the results of the fourth month in a row. Analysts on average predicted a less significant drop – to minus 39 points, according to Trading Economics.
Meanwhile, Spain’s third-quarter unemployment rate rose to 12.67% from 12.48% a quarter earlier.
