European Markets Extended Losses On Weak Corporate Results

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Tuesday's session in the red, extending yesterday's weakness. Disappointing corporate financial results from companies like BASF and Novartis dampened the mood among investors. Energy and resource stocks were also under pressure, due to weakness in commodity prices. Weaker than expected GDP data from the U.K. also contributed to the negative mood.

Investors remain cautious ahead of Wednesday's announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The announcement will not be released until after the European close tomorrow. The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates, but traders will be paying close attention to any signals regarding a rate hike in December.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.96 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.78 percent.

The DAX of Germany declined 1.01 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 1.02 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped 0.81 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.65 percent.

In Frankfurt, BASF tumbled 4.78 percent after the chemicals group cut its full-year earnings guidance, citing weak sales in China and other emerging markets.

Wirecard dipped 0.71 percent, after it agreed to acquire the payments business of Great Indian Retail Group.

RWE dropped 4.61 percent and E.ON surrendered 3.76 percent.

In Paris, Air Liquide rose 0.73 percent. The French industrial and medical gases maker reiterated its profit guidance after reporting a 7.8 percent increase in quarterly revenue.

Technip declined 3.71 percent and Total lost 2.19 percent.

In London, BP fell 1.14 percent, after the oil giant laid out plans to cut costs and spending on projects.

Shire increased 6.90 percent, after its Phase 3 trial of lifitegrast met the primary endpoint of significantly improving patient-reported symptoms of dry eye disease from baseline to day 84.

Novartis dropped 1.55 percent in Zurich. The pharmaceutical giant reported third-quarter net income that missed analysts' estimates.

Geberit decreased 4.82 percent, after its earnings per share dropped to 9.06 francs for the nine-month of 2015 from 11.01 francs in the previous year.

Eurozone money supply growth held steady in September, figures from the European Central Bank showed Tuesday. M3, the broad measure of money supply, rose a seasonally adjusted 4.9 percent year-over-year in September, the same rate of increase as in the previous month, revised from a 4.8 percent growth. In July, money supply had risen 5.3 percent.

British economic growth eased more-than-expected in the third quarter, dragged by a sharp drop in construction, suggesting that the fast-paced recovery may be cooling. Yet, the recent slowing is unlikely to shift the Bank of England's stance that interest rates need to be raised earlier than expected.

Gross domestic product rose 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it grew 0.7 percent, preliminary estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. Economists were looking for 0.6 percent economic expansion.

China's industrial profits dropped marginally in September from a year ago, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday. Industrial profits edged down 0.1 percent year-over-year in September, much slower than the 8.8 percent sharp decrease in August.

Partly reflecting another notable decrease in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a continued decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in September.

The report said durable goods orders slid by 1.2 percent in September following a revised 3.0 percent decrease in August. Economists had expected durable goods orders to fall by about 1.0 percent compared to the 2.3 percent drop that had been reported for the previous month.

Home price growth in major U.S. metropolitan areas saw a slight acceleration in the annual pace of growth in August, according to a report released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday. The report said the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index climbed 5.1 percent year-over-year in August compared to the revised 4.9 percent annual growth seen in July. The acceleration matched economist estimates.

After reporting an unexpected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the previous month, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing that confidence pulled back rather sharply in the month of October.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 97.6 in October from a downwardly revised 102.6 in September. Economists had been expecting the index to dip to 102.5 from the 103.0 originally reported for the previous month.