EUROPE MARKETS: Stoxx Europe 600 Posts 3rd Straight Loss On Commodity Slump

By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Tullow Oil among the day's notable losers

European stocks finished lower Wednesday, with energy shares slightly paring losses as oil prices came off session lows.

Investors also expressed disappointment over a new round of financial updates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 gave up 0.4% to close at 341.76, registering its third loss in a row. On Tuesday, the pan-European index fell 0.4%.

The oil-and-gas sector dropped, but recovered from session lows as crude prices pared earlier steep losses. That move came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration unexpectedly reported a decline in domestic crude supplies (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-turn-higher-after-eia-reports-unexpected-600000-million-barrel-decline-in-us-crude-supply-2016-10-26) by 600,000 barrels in the week ended Oct. 21. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had expected a rise of 400,000 barrels. Late Tuesday, industry group American Petroleum Institute reported an increase of 4.8 million barrels.

Among oil producers, Portugal's Galp Energia (GALP.LB) gave up 1.7%, and Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) shed 1.4%. Meanwhile, shares of Italian energy engineering services company Saipem SpA (SPM.MI) fell 3%.

Elsewhere in the commodities space, shares of Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) lost 3.2% after the miner said it expects this year's copper output to be close to the lower end (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/antofagasta-copper-output-up-reaffirms-guidance-2016-10-26) of its forecast of 710,000-740,000 tons.

Other movers: Novozymes A/S (NZYM-B.KO) plunged 11% after the Danish enzymes maker's third-quarter quarterly results came in below expectations and the company reduced its fiscal-year forecast.

Telenor ASA shares (TEL.OS) ended down 5.6%. The Norwegian telecom's third-quarter net loss widened to 4.82 billion Norwegian kroner (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/telenor-earnings-hit-by-vimpelcom-impairments-2016-10-26-14854650) ($582.68 million) on costs related to partially selling its stake in telecom VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP)

Kering's stock (KER.FR) leapt to close up 7.8% after the luxury-goods maker said quarterly sales climbed 10% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kerings-sales-jump-helped-by-turnaround-at-gucci-2016-10-26), aided by a turnaround at Gucci--its largest brand.

Logitech International SA's stock (LOGI) rallied 17% after the Swiss computer accessories maker's second-quarter per-share earnings of 25 cents beat a FactSet consensus estimate of 25 cents a share. Revenue of $564.3 million also outstripped expectations of $524 million.

Airbus Group SE (AIR.FR) rose 3.8%, pushing past the aircraft maker's report that its most closely watched earnings measure fell 21% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/airbus-quarterly-profit-falls-sales-slip-2016-10-26).

Indexes: Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.4% to close at 10,709.68, and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.1% to 4,534.59.

The U.K's FTSE 100 lost 0.9% to end at 6,958.09.

The euro was changing hands at $1.0917, up from $1.0885 late Tuesday in New York.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 12:17 ET (16:17 GMT)

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