Investing.com - European stocks traded lower on Wednesday as market participants digested a deluge of earnings, particularly from the region’s banks, and kept an eye on the slump in oil.
During European morning trade, the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 traded down 0.70%, while Germany’s DAX 30 lost 0.82%.
Tuesday’s focus in Europe were on corporate earnings with several banks taking the spotlight.
Spanish Banco Santander (MC:SAN) and Swedish financial services group Nordea Bank AB (ST:NDA) reported better-than-expected profit sending shares higher.
On the downside, the U.K.’s Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) slumped 3% after reporting a 15% decrease in third-quarter profits and announcing another £1 billion charge for the scandal related to payment protection insurance (PPI).
Outside the financial sector, the Danish biotech company Novozymes A/S B (CO:NZYMb) tanked more than 12% after reporting weak sales.
Europe’s largest aerospace group Airbus Group (PA:AIR) managed to tack on gains of more than 1% despite a 21% drop in profit that was worse-than-expected.
Heineken (AS:HEIN) fell close to 2% as the Dutch beer maker warned that the impact from currencies would be worse than expected.
Meanwhile, oil prices slumped more than 1% to a three-week low on Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute said late in the prior session that U.S. oil inventories increased by 4.8 million barrels in the week ended October 21, higher than the 2.0-million-barrel build forecast by analysts.
Market participants looked ahead to the official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration out at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT) Wednesday, amid analyst expectations for an increase of 1.69 million barrels.
In that light, energy stocks were broadly lower, as French oil and gas major Total SA (PA:TOTF) fell 1.50% and Italy’s ENI (MI:ENI) lost 0.73%, while Norwegian rival Statoil (OL:STL) traded down 1.60%.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) slipped 0.04% and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) lost 0.81%, while Germany’s Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) traded up 0.15% and 0.87%, respectively.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) gained 0.19% and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) slipped 0.09%, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) advanced 1.03% and 1.19%.
In London, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.99% as investors worried over a report that the U.K. faces an £84bn black hole over the next five years, as the Brexit vote takes a bite out of the public finances.
Among miners, shares in Glencore (LON:GLEN) slumped 1.47% and Anglo American (LON:AAL) traded down 2.02%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) fell 1.71% and 0.71%, respectively.
Energy stocks added to losses, as BP (LON:BP) lost 1.89% and rival Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) shed 1.94%.
Financial stocks traded lower on the back of the aforementioned earnings report from Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY), with shares in HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) dropping 0.88% and Barclays (LON:BARC) giving up 1.01%. Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) managed to escape the general rout with shares up 0.08%.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.41% loss, S&P 500 futures a 0.43% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.57% decrease.