On Wednesday, the key European stock indices declined amid the publication of weak statistics on the EU countries. In addition, investors analyzed the corporate earnings report for the third quarter of 2022 from the top European companies.
At the time of writing, the composite indicator of Europe's leading companies STOXX Europe 600 rose by 0.15% to 415.22%.
The French CAC 40 gained 0.07%, the German DAX fell by 0.18%, and the British FTSE 100 lost 1.5%.
Top gainers and losers
The stocks of Danish transport and logistics company A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S plunged by 5.4%. At the end of the third quarter of 2022, the financial company reported results that exceeded market expectations. However, it lowered its annual forecast for demand amid the permanently deteriorating situation in the global economy.
Quotes of British sports carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda plummeted by 14% after the report of a sharply higher pre-tax loss in July and September.
The market capitalization of Swedish cloud technology provider Sinch AB jumped by 30%. The day before, the company reported an 83% increase in revenue to $653 million in the third quarter.
The stocks of pharmaceutical company GSK rose by 1%. Last quarter, the British drugmaker increased revenues by 18%. The key reason for its positive results was a surge in sales of the Shingrix vaccine against shingles. According to preliminary forecasts of the company's managers, its sales should grow by 8-10% in 2022.
The stocks of British clothing chain Next Plc grew by 3.7%. The company increased its sales by 0.4% in July-September.
Quotes of Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk rose by 4.7%. The company increased its net profit to 14.41 billion Danish kroner in the third quarter from 12.12 billion Danish kroner in the same period of 2021. In addition, Novo Nordisk's revenues surged by 28% to 45.57 billion kroner in July-September amid strong sales of its anti-diabetes drug Ozempic.
The market capitalization of Swiss dental implant maker Straumann increased by 4% due to an increase in its forecast for organic sales growth this year.
The stocks of Danish ocean freighter and port terminal operator Maersk fell by 4.5% after the news came that demand for transportation was slowing amid the prospect of a global recession.
The stocks of Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air plummeted by over 7%. From March to September, the carrier recorded an operating loss of 63.8 million euros.
Quotes of British commercial bank Metro Bank soared by 5.8%. By the end of September, the bank returned to profit.
Market sentiment
In addition to quarterly reports of top European companies, on Wednesday investors were discussing the latest macroeconomic data on the eurozone. According to experts' final estimate, in October the manufacturing PMI in 19 EU countries decreased to 46.4 points from 48.4 points recorded in September. At the same time, analysts forecasted the index value at 46.6 points.
According to the October outcome, the unemployment rate in Germany was forecasted to remain at the September level of 5.5%. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed in the country rose by 8,000 in October against the experts' expectations of an increase of 12,500.
Germany's total exports fell by 0.5% in September compared to August. Imports sank by a record 2.3% since January. In September, the surplus of foreign trade balance amounted to 3.7 billion euros against 11.7 billion euros recorded in the same period last year.
The outcome of the US Federal Reserve two-day November meeting will be published on Wednesday evening. According to experts' preliminary forecasts, the regulator will raise the interest rate by 75 basis points for the fourth time in a row. Meanwhile, market participants hope that the US Federal Reserve will signal that it will slow down monetary policy tightening in the future and raise the rate by 50 basis points at the December meeting.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England's monetary policy decision and macroeconomic outlook are scheduled to be released on Thursday.
Previous trading results
On Tuesday, European stock indices closed in the green zone amid positive quarterly reports of energy companies in the eurozone.
At the end of trading, the composite indicator of Europe's leading companies STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.58% to 414.61 points.
The French CAC 40 gained 0.98%, the German DAX added 0.64%, and the British FTSE 100 advanced by 1.29%.
As of October results, key European stock indices increased by 3-9%.
The stocks of British online supermarket Ocado Group jumped by 39%. The day before, the company said that Ocado Group had entered the South Korean market due to a partnership agreement with local Lotte Shopping.
At the start of Tuesday's trading session, the stocks of oil giant BP Plc soared to the February 2020 highs. However, later they declined slightly and finally rose by 1.4%. In July-September, the company's profits increased by 2.5 times to $8.15 billion in annual terms. Moreover, BP announced a share buyback program worth $2.5 billion.
The market capitalization of Eni, TotalEnergies and Shell rose by 1.64%, 2.09%, and 1.25% respectively.
The stocks of British IT giant Osirium Technologies surged by 73%. In the third quarter of fiscal 2022, the company increased its customer base and revenue significantly.
The stocks of the owner of Internet assets Naspers Ltd. advanced by 3%.
Quotes of British automaker Aston Martin Lagonda Global jumped 0.1%.
The market capitalization of IWG, a Swiss company that provides office rental services, fell by 0.1%. At the same time, the company increased its revenue by 34% in the third quarter.
The stocks of Swiss bank Credit Suisse rose by 2.3%.
The stocks of French gerontology center operator Orpea Group soared by 12%.
On Tuesday, European investors analyzed the latest statistics on the eurozone. Earlier, the news came that in October housing prices in the UK fell for the first time since July 2021 and recorded a decline of 0.9%.
In September, import prices in Germany soared by 29.8% year-on-year. The final figure was much better than market expectations. However, it is still slightly down from the 32.7% increase in August.
