EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Slip After Earnings Deluge, Weak China Data

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Nokia slumps after reporting a loss -- again

European stock markets were under selling pressure on Thursday, driven lower by some disappointing corporate news and worries over some a slowdown in China's industrial sector.

Better-than-expected growth data from the U.K. weren't enough to spur optimism either in London or more broadly in Europe.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% to 340.74, building on a 0.4% slide from Wednesday.

The weakness followed a downbeat session in Asia (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weak-china-economic-data-help-push-asian-markets-down-2016-10-26), where markets closed lower after China said industrial profits fell to 7.7% year-over-year growth in September, a sharp slowdown from the 19.5% recorded the month before.

Europe's miners fell after that, with BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) off 1.6%, Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) (GLEN.LN) down 0.5% and Boliden AB (BOL.SK) 0.4% lower. Miners are sensitive to any news on Chinese growth as the country is a major user of natural resources.

Other movers: Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.XE) (DBK.XE) shares were off 0.2%, but have been struggling for direction after the German lender posted an unexpected rise in profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deutsche-bank-swings-to-unexpected-profit-2016-10-27-54853136)and set aside more money for litigation costs

Posting on of the biggest losses in the benchmark, shares of AMEC Foster Wheeler PLC (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amec-foster-on-course-to-hit-yearly-targets-2016-10-27)(AMFW.LN) tanked 17% after the oilfield-services company said it continues to see weakness in some key markets.

Nokia Oyj (NOK) (NOK) slumped 6.6% after the telecommunications-equipment reported a quarterly loss for the third time in a row (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nokia-swings-to-quarterly-loss-to-broaden-lineup-2016-10-27).

Engineering giant ABB Ltd. (ABBN.EB) lost 6.6% after its third-quarter revenue dropped (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/abb-revenue-pressured-by-market-uncertainty-2016-10-27-14851115) because of uncertainties over the U.S. presidential election and the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union.

Telefonica SA (TEF) gave up 4.2% after the Spanish telecoms major cut its 2016 and 2017 dividends (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/telefonica-trims-dividend-in-aim-to-cut-debt-2016-10-27).

On a more upbeat note, STMicroelectronics NV (STM) jumped 8.2% as investors welcomed its outlook for the rest of the year.

Economic news: The U.K. economy proved to be more resilient than expected after the Brexit vote, with gross domestic product expanding 0.5% in the third quarter. Economists had expected GDP growth of around 0.3%, which was already higher than the forecasts published immediately after the EU referendum in June.

The growth rate still marked a slowdown from the 0.7% recorded in the second quarter.

"Growth of 0.5% quarter-on-quarter undeniably means that the economy was solid (if somewhat lopsided) in the immediate aftermath of June's Brexit vote, despite appreciable serious concern that activity could immediately head south," said Howard Archer, chief U.K. and European economist at IHS Global Insight, in a note.

"However, there are still major challenges for the economy ahead -- not least when Article 50 is triggered," he added.

The pound rallied after the report, buying as much as $1.2272 compared with $1.2240 ahead of the data and the $1.2246 recorded late Wednesday in New York. Sterling, however, quickly gave up the gain to trade at $1.2230.

Indexes: The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index was slightly lower at 6,955.84 as invested digested the data and the pound move (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-drops-ahead-of-uk-gdp-data-2016-10-27).

Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.2% to 10,690.69, while France's CAC 40 dropped 0.4% to 4,515.55.

Spain's IBEX 35 index lost 0.5% to 9,124.20, pressured by Telefónica.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 06:18 ET (10:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.