Consumer confidence in the French economy fell to 99 points in October from 101 points in September, according to data from the national statistical office Insee. Analysts on average had expected the indicator to be unchanged since September, that is, at 101 points.
Traders are waiting for the results of the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), which will be summed up today. Experts do not expect the ECB to adjust monetary policy at its October meeting, but they will closely follow the speech of the head of the regulator Christine Lagarde at a press conference after the meeting.
The composite index of the largest enterprises in the region Stoxx Europe 600 by the close of trading dropped by 0.36% and amounted to 474.04 points.
Germany's DAX fell 0.33%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.19%, and Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.33%. The Italian FTSE MIB and the Spanish IBEX 35 decreased by 0.61% and 0.33%, respectively.
Equinor, a Norwegian oil and gas company, was down 2.15%. The company in the third quarter reached a profitable level, but net profit was worse than analysts' forecasts.
The value of the Dutch brewery Heineken fell 0.6%. Beer sales in July-September fell by 5.1%.
The capitalization of Banco Santander SA, the largest bank in Spain, fell 2.9%, despite the bank's third-quarter revenue increase to 11.93 billion euros from 11.09 billion euros in the same period last year. The indicator also turned out to be higher than analysts' expectations of 11.6 billion euros.
The shares of the German chemical concern Beiersdorf AG decreased by 0.3%. The company's shares will be included in the calculation of the German DAX index on Friday, the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange Deutsche Boerse AG said. Beiersdorf shares will take the place of the shares of the developer Deutsche Wohnen SE. After the German Vonovia bought Deutsche Wohnen, the company's free float was less than 10% required by the exchange regulator.
Deutsche Bank AG, the largest bank in Germany, increased its net profit in July-September by 6%, and the bank also increased its revenue by 2%. However, the bank's investment banking revenues declined by 6% over this period to € 2.2 billion. Fixed Income Currency (FIC) trading income fell 12% to € 1.6 billion. Deutsche Bank shares fell 6.9%.
The value of the German chemical group BASF SE declined by 0.1%, despite the fact that the company posted a net profit of 1.25 billion euros in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of 2.12 billion euros a year earlier.
The shares of the Swedish manufacturer of household appliances Electrolux AB fell 0.2%. The company said in its financial statements that demand for its products is normalizing to pre-pandemic levels, but supply problems cut production by 10% in the third quarter and is expected to have an even more negative impact in the next three months.
German sporting goods maker Puma SE gained 3.6%. Puma's revenue in July-September increased to 1.9 billion euros from 1.58 billion euros in the same period last year. The company improved its annual revenue growth forecast to 25% from the previously announced 20%.
