© Reuters
By Peter Nurse
Investing.com – European stock markets edged higher Wednesday, as traders digested a deluge of quarterly corporate earnings, particularly from the important banking sector.
By 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.5% higher, the in France edged 0.2% higher, while U.K.’s traded largely flat.
The European corporate earnings season is in full swing, and investors are wading through a plethora of results while keeping a wary eye on the , which is expected to raise interest rates by a hefty 75 basis points on Thursday.
The European banking sector is in the spotlight, with Deutsche Bank (ETR:) stock down 1.9% after the German banking giant warned of an “increasingly challenging” environment and “intensified” cost pressures even as it a better-than-expected 475% jump in third-quarter profit.
Barclays (LON:) stock fell 1.3% after the British lender announced an uptick in provisions as well as a better-than-expected profit in the , helped by a strong performance in fixed income trading.
(BIT:) stock rose 2.7% after the Italian bank raised its 2022 profit goal, while (BME:) stock fell 4.8% after the Spanish lender announced a rise in loan loss provisions and costs.
Elsewhere, Heineken (AS:) stock slumped 8% after the Dutch brewing giant missed consensus forecasts for sales in the and warned of a slowdown ahead.
Reckitt Benckiser (LON:) stock fell 3.5% despite the consumer goods retailer predicting full-year sales would be at the upper end of previous guidance and reported better than expected .
The tech sector traded lower after disappointing results from Google-owner (NASDAQ:) and software giant (NASDAQ:) overnight signaling a weak start to the U.S. Big Tech earnings week.
Back in Europe, ASM International (AS:) stock fell 7.1%, after the Dutch semiconductor company said it expected new U.S. export restrictions to weigh heavily on its sales in China.
The economic data calendar is quiet in Europe Wednesday, with figures for October the highlight, climbing to 82, from 79 in September.
Oil prices dipped Wednesday after industry data indicated that U.S. crude stocks grew more than expected last week, reinforcing fears that a slowdown in the world’s largest economy will hit demand.
Data from the showed that U.S. crude inventories grew by 4.5 million barrels in the week to Oct. 21, more than expectations for a build of 200,000 barrels.
Traders will look towards the release of an official report from the later in the session for confirmation.
By 04:05 ET, futures traded 0.2% lower at $85.19 a barrel, while the contract fell 0.3% to $91.46.
Additionally, rose 1.2% to $1,677.65/oz, while traded 0.7% higher at 1.0033.
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