Europe's STOXX 600 slips as mixed earnings and rising oil sour mood

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Today 10:23

Nestle rises after better-than-expected third-quarter organic sales growth
Luxury stocks weaken after Hermes posts slightly softer quarterly revenue
UCB gains after raising 2026 guidance on demand for Bimzelx and Cimzia 
Updates prices, adds analyst comment
By Avinash  P
Oct 22 (Reuters) - Europe's STOXX 600 index fell nearly 1% on Thursday, surrendering all of the prior session's gains as investors weighed a slate of mixed earnings reports, while higher oil prices and rising French bond yields further dampened risk appetite.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX was down 0.95% at 638.38 points by 0855 GMT, after gaining over 0.9% on Wednesday.
"We have some big concerns in the market, one is the situation in the Middle East... So that is sending oil prices higher and the other one is obviously bond yields," said Joost Van Leenders, senior investment strategist at Van Lanschot Kempen Investment.
"You have those risk factors and the positive factors which vary from day to day....and make for a bit of volatility in the markets," he said.
Oil prices climbed more than 2% after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns about broader escalation and supply disruption.
Energy-dependent Europe has been hit by soaring energy costs, which have stoked price pressures and weighed on the broader index.
Additionally, the yield spread between France's 10-year bond and German Bunds also hit a fresh 15-year high amid political uncertainty and protests in France. GVD/EUR
Kicking off European bank earnings, Barclays BARC.L shares erased earlier losses to trade flat after the company reported a third-quarter profit miss. The lender separately said it would cut around 5,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce this year.
Despite this, the banking index .SX7E fell 2.7%.
Hermes HRMS.PA fell 7.3% after the Birkin bag maker posted slightly weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue, with the drop weighing on the luxury index .STXLUXP.
Nestle NESN.S added 1.2% after reporting better-than-expected organic sales growth for the third quarter. The food and beverage index .SX3P gained 0.6%, one of the few sectors trading higher.
The tech index .SX8P came under renewed pressure, tracking a global selloff, and was down 2.1%.
AI-related shares such as Infineon IFXGn.DE, STMicroelectronics STMPA.PA and ASML ASML.AS fell between 2.8% and 3.6%.
     BE Semiconductor Industries BESI.AS and SAP SAPG.DE fell 3.1% and 1%, respectively, after their quarterly earnings.
     Solid earnings from Meta Platforms META.O on Wednesday  were not enough to placate investor worries about the sustainability and profitability of massive AI spending, reviving concerns that have triggered several selloffs in AI stocks this year.
Among other stocks, UCB UCB.BR gained 12.2% after biopharmaceutical group upgraded its 2026 guidance on strong demand for its Bimzelx and Cimzia drugs.

 (Reporting by Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and Sonia Cheema)
 ((Avinash.P@thomsonreuters.com;))