European shares edge higher as SocGen weighs on banks after results
03/11/2017 08:00
LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - European shares crept higher in
early deals on Friday as earnings weighed on shares in French
bank Societe Generale SOGN.PA and Dutch telecoms firms Altice
ATCA.AS , though gains for tech stocks and carmakers limited
losses.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index was up 0.1
percent, set for its second week of gains in a row, while euro
zone blue chips .STOXX50E were down 0.1 percent.
Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE built on the previous session's
gains following the Bank of England's first rate hike in more
than a decade, up 0.3 percent.
Friday was another busy day of earnings, with the banking
sector in focus. Societe Generale fell 3.8 percent after the
French bank reported third quarter earnings which included a 15
percent slump at its investment banking arm. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1N90NJ
Telecoms firm Altice was another big faller, down 7.9
percent after issuing cautious full-year targets amidst slightly
weaker-than-expected third quarter results. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1N8860
On the positive side, Norwegian consumer publishing firm
Schibsted SBSTA.OL surged 18 percent to the top of the STOXX
after its results came in above forecast. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1N908N
France's Renault RENA.PA rose 3.9 percent, leading
European autos .SXAP after the French government began the
sale of its 4.73 percent stake in the carmaker. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1N888D
Tech stocks were also in focus after U.S. giant Apple
AAPL.O reported better-than-expected earnings, boosting shares
in suppliers Dialog Semiconductor DLGS.DE 2 percent and AMS
AMS.S 1.6 percent. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N8668
So far more than half of MSCI Europe companies have reported
third quarter earnings, of which 67 percent have either met or
beaten analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S data.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Major European Indexes YTD Performance http://reut.rs/2zblpzX
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Kit Rees, editing by Danilo Masoni)
((kit.rees@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 2784;))
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/