European Markets Finished With Mixed Results

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session with mixed results. Investors were confronted with a large number of corporate earnings reports and economic reports today, which was also mixed. Energy and resource stocks turned in weak performances as commodity prices came under pressure.

A dovish economic outlook from the Bank of England has dampened the prospect of an interest rate hike in the near term and suggested that interest rates are unlikely to rise until late 2016 as inflation is expected to remain low.

The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Mark Carney, voted 8-1 to hold the interest rate at 0.50 percent, the bank said in a statement on Thursday. The rate has been held at this record-low level since 2009.

At the November meeting, Ian McCafferty sought an increase in the Bank Rate by 25 basis points, as seen in August, September and October.

Policymakers voted unanimously to maintain quantitative easing at GBP 375 billion.

While economists had widely expected the bank to leave the benchmark rate and the size of its stimulus unchanged, it was hoped that at least one more rate-setter would join McCafferty this month in seeking a rate hike.

However, the dovish outlook presented by the bank in today's quarterly Inflation Report implies that a rate hike is unlikely for the time being.

Eurozone's economic recovery has been resilient and widespread, but slow, and is set to continue at a modest pace despite severe challenges such as the emerging markets and global trade slowdown and persisting geopolitical tensions, the European Commission said on Thursday.

In its Autumn 2015 forecast, the executive arm of the European Union said the euro area gross domestic product is set to grow by 1.6 percent this year, slightly faster than the 1.5 percent predicted in May.

"Against a backdrop of declining oil prices, accommodative monetary policy and a relatively weak external value of the euro, the economic recovery this year has been resilient and widespread across Member States. It has, however, remained slow," the commission said.

"The impact of the positive factors is fading, while new challenges are appearing, such as the slowdown in emerging market economies and global trade, and persisting geopolitical tensions," the report said.

Consequently, the commission lowered the projection for the next year to 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.24 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.40 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.39 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.64 percent. The FTSE of the U.K. dropped 0.75 percent, but the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.43 percent.

In Frankfurt, Volkswagen extended recent losses and fell 3.02 percent after Germany ordered a probe into new allegations.

Deutsche Telekom dipped 1.58 percent after its third quarter profit missed forecasts.

HeidelbergCement rose 2.39 percent. The cement maker's margins and net income for the third quarter exceeded analysts' estimates.

Adidas surged 8.50 percent. The sportswear company raised its full-year sales and profits forecasts after reporting a 10 percent rise in third-quarter net profit on strong demand for its Adidas and Reebok brands.

In Paris, Credit Agricole plunged 8.28 percent after profit fell at its corporate and investment bank divisions.

Societe Generale climbed 3.97 percent after posting higher third-quarter profits.

EDF fell 7.86 percent, after its sales for the first nine months of the year grew 2.8 percent to 53.8 billion euros from 52.3 billion euros in the previous year, among challenging power price environment in Europe.

In London, AstraZeneca gained 2.90 percent. The drug maker lifted its 2015 forecasts after reporting third-quarter results broadly in line with expectations.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets decreased 5.63 percent. The company said that in the 13 weeks to November 1, total sales excluding fuel dropped 2 percent and were down 4.6 percent including fuel.

Glencore dropped 3.46 percent, despite an upgrade by Deutsche Bank to "Buy" from "Hold."

Randgold Resources surrendered 4.43 percent, after its third quarter profit fell short of expectations.

Adecco sank 10.51 percent in Zurich. The company reported a third-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders of 513 million euros, due to the impairment of goodwill of 740 million euros. In the previous year, third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders was 198 million euros.

Eurzone retail sales decreased unexpectedly in September after remaining flat in the previous month, figures from Eurostat showed Thursday. Retail sales edged down 0.1 percent month-over-month in September, confounding economists' expectations for a 0.2 percent increase. In August, sales showed no variations.

German factory orders declined unexpectedly in September due to a notable fall in demand from euro area, underscoring the risk in maintaining the moderate growth momentum. According to data from Destatis, factory orders fell 1.7 percent month-on-month in September, confounding expectations for a 1 percent rise. This was the third consecutive fall in orders.

Germany's construction sector activity expanded for the ninth consecutive month in October, though the pace of expansion slowed from the prior month, survey data from Markit Economics showed Thursday. The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, dropped to 51.8 in October from 52.4 in September.

U.K. house prices rebounded at a faster than expected pace in October, survey data from the Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division revealed Thursday. House prices increased 1.1 percent in October from a year ago, reversing a 0.9 percent drop in September. Economists had forecast only 0.6 percent increase for October.

A day before the release of its closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected in the week ended October 31st.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 276,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 260,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 262,000.

With output rising and hours worked falling, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected increase in U.S. labor productivity in the third quarter.

The Labor Department said productivity climbed 1.6 percent in third quarter following an upwardly revised 3.5 percent jump in the second quarter. The continued growth came as a surprise to economists, who had expected productivity to edge down by 0.2 percent compared to the 3.3 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

The report also said unit labor costs rose by 1.4 percent in the third quarter after tumbling by 1.8 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected costs to surge up by 2.3 percent.