Investing.com - European stock markets fell Thursday, as investors digested more corporate quarterly results as well as the latest eurozone inflation release.
At 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 1.3% lower, the CAC 40 in France fell 1.4% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. dropped 1%.
Eurozone CPI rises more than expected
Eurozone inflation accelerated more than expected in October, rising to 2.0% on an annual basis, from 1.7% in September, above expectations for a 1.9% rise.
A more closely watched figure which strips out volatile food and energy prices meanwhile held steady at 2.7%, above forecasts for 2.6%, Eurostat said on Thursday.
The ECB has cut interest rates three times this year, with the latest cut at its last meeting in October, the first back-to-back cut since the euro crisis in 2011. It is expected to ease monetary policy once more when it next meets, but these figures could bolstering the case for caution as price growth is not yet fully tamed.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said that this inflation rate will durably reach its 2.0% target in the course of 2025, in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde.
"Maybe we could have started to intervene a few months earlier. But we raised rates at an unprecedented rate, and we managed to bring inflation down significantly over a short period," Lagarde said on Thursday.
"Now I want to see that 2% target achieved on a lasting basis. In the absence of a major shock, this will be the case in the course of 2025."
Shell announces more buybacks
Turning to the corporate sector, there are more quarterly earnings from a number of major companies for investors to study.
Shell (LON:SHEL) stock rose 3% after Europe’s largest oil and gas company reported third-quarter profit of $6 billion, exceeding forecasts, and announced another $3.5 billion of share buybacks.
BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) stock fell over 5% after the French bank, the eurozone’s largest lender, needed increased trading activity at its investment banking division to meet quarterly profit expectations as lending headwinds remained.
Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) stock rose 2.2% after the car giant stated that it was moving quickly to cut US inventories, even as quarterly revenues fell by 27%.
AB Inbev (EBR:ABI) stock dropped over 6% after the brewing giant posted a drop in third-quarter volumes, after a drop in sales in Asia Pacific, although a share buyback and lifted guidance has helped.
Smith & Nephew (LON:SN) stock fell over 12% after the UK-based medical equipment manufacturer slashed its full-year revenue guidance, citing weakness in the important Chinese market.
Across the pond, both Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) topped profit and revenue expectations for the July-September period, but the tech giants also pointed to increased spending to build out AI data centers in a rush to meet vast demand.
Crude prices rise on inventories draw
Oil prices edged higher Thursday, adding to the previous session’s gains, after an unexpected draw in U.S. inventories pointed to strength of demand in the US, the world’s largest consumer.
By 11:00 ET, the Brent contract climbed 1.2% to $73.03 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.3% higher at $69.52 per barrel.
Both contracts rose more than 2% on Wednesday, after falling more than 6% earlier in the week on the reduced risk of a wider Middle East conflict.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week ending Oct. 25 to a two-year low, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, while crude inventories also posted a surprise fall.