STOXX 600 inches higher led by banks; mixed earnings cap gains
By Pranav Kashyap
(Reuters) -Europe’s benchmark index inched marginally higher on Tuesday, boosted by bank stocks after HSBC’s upbeat third-quarter earnings, although poor reports from other regional companies kept a lid on gains.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% to 522.08 points, after opening at a one-week high of 522.93.
The banking sector rose 1%, led by a 4% gain in HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HSBC) after the Asia-focused bank reported a better-than-expected third-quarter profit and said it would buy back shares worth up to $3 billion.
Orkla rose 4.7% and was the top gainer on the STOXX 600 by percentage, after the Norwegian food processing company reported third-quarter profit above estimates.
Keeping gains at check, BP (NYSE:BP) lost 0.9% after the energy giant reported third-quarter profit of $2.3 billion, their lowest in almost four years.
Wartsila tumbled 13.3% after the Finnish engineering group’s third-quarter order intake missed market expectations.
Novartis (SIX:NOVN) fell 2.7%, despite the Swiss drugmaker raising its 2024 earnings guidance for the third time.
On the economic front, German consumer sentiment increased more than expected going into November, rising to -18.3 points from a slightly revised -21.0 the month before. The country’s benchmark DAX ticked 0.5% higher.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s economy shrank 0.1% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, preliminary figures from the statistics office showed.
The STOXX 600 is gradually climbing towards the psychological 530 mark, but caution surrounding the U.S. election could potentially delay reaching this milestone.
“The 530 is a possibility before the end of the year, given the fundamentals potentially support it. But I think that would very much depend on the outcome of the U.S. election,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.
The U.S. election is in its final stretch, with polls too close to call, although some betting sites and markets are leaning toward a win for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, investors were also eagerly anticipating results from U.S. megacap Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) later in the day for more guidance on the outlook for the technology sector.
This week, the bulk of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech giants will report earnings, with Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Wednesday, followed by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on Thursday.