The German share price index, DAX board, is seen at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, November 1, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote
November 3, 2017
LONDON (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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(Reporting by Kit Rees, editing by Danilo Masoni)
