Major European Markets Close On Mixed Note Ahead Of Fed Rate Decision

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday with investors reacting to a slew of earnings announcements, and looking ahead to the monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve later in the day, and the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.61%, Germany's DAX closed down by 0.64% and France's CAC 40 ended 0.19% down, while Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.37%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed higher.

Finland, Iceland and Sweden ended weak, while Netherlands, Norway and Poland closed little changed.

In the UK market, shares of mining companies had a good outing. Glencore, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Anglo American Plc posted strong gains.

GSK climbed 5.7% on upbeat results. The British drug major announced that its profit before tax surged to 2.46 billion pounds in the third quarter, from last year's 64 million pounds. On an after-tax basis, profit attributable to shareholders was 2.01 billion pounds or 49.1 pence per share, compared to loss of 58 million pounds or 1.4 pence a year ago.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2025, the company now expects core earnings per share growth of 10 - 12%, while it previously expected towards the top end of the 6 - 8% range.

Next surged 8.8% after the company raised its earnings guidance. Beazley, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Metlen Energy & Metals, HSBC Holdings, BP and Shell gained 1.5 to 3%.

Relx, RightMove, The Sage Group, Rentokil Initial, Compass Group, Vodafone Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and LSE ended lower by 2 to 3%.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank climbed nearly 5%. The lender reported a net profit of 1.56 billion euros for the third quarter of its current fiscal year, up 7% compared to 1.46 billion euros in the year-ago quarter.

Mercedes-Benz gained about 4.3%. Mercedes-Benz Group's net profit dropped to 1.19 billion euros in the third quarter, down 30.8 from last year's 1.72 billion euros. Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, the company continues to expect Group EBIT significantly below last year's 13.6 billion euros, and revenues significantly below last year's 145.6 billion euros.

BASF climbed 1.65% after the company announced a €1.5 billion share buyback and reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, helped by government grants and gains in its Surface Technologies division.

RWE, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Fresenius, Porsche Automobil and BMW gained 1 to 3%.

Adidas tanked nearly 10%. Adidas is down by a little over 1%. The company has reported a marginal increase in third-quarter net income at 485 million euros, compared to 476 million euros, a year ago. Earlier this month, the company upgraded full-year financial guidance, saying it expects around 9% increase in revenue.

Zalando ended nearly 5% down. SAP, Symrise, Deutsche Telekom, Vonovia, Scout24, Deutsche Boerse, Gea Group, Beiersdorf, Deutsche Post and Brenntag lost 1 to 4.3%.

In the French market, Capgemini ended more than 2% up. Societe Generale, TotalEnergies and Engie gained 1 to 1.6%.

Stellantis moved up sharply thanks to stronger-than-expected margins reported by Mercedes-Benz's automotive division.

Shares of manufacturing company Bic S.A., tumbled after the firm lowered its sales and operating margin forecasts for fiscal 2025.

Thales, Air Liquide, Dassault Systemes, Pernod Ricard, ArcelorMittal, Orange, Publicis Groupe and AXA lost 1 to 2.6%.

In economic news, net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals in the UK rose by £1.2 billion to £5.5 billion in September 2025, the highest since March 2025 (£13.2 billion), data from the Bank of England showed.