European Shares Slip Amid Earnings Deluge

(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly lower in choppy trade on Wednesday, as earnings proved to be a mixed bag and investors braced for the ECB rate decision on Thursday.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to raise rates by 75 basis points amid a looming recession.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.1 percent at 407.04 after climbing 1.4 percent to hit a five-week high on Tuesday.

The German DAX rose 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 index was marginally lower and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent.

Dutch semiconductor supplier ASM slumped 9 percent after warning of the impact of U.S. curbs on its Chinese operations.

Heineken plunged 10.6 percent. After beer sales missed estimates, the world's second-largest brewer warned that it is seeing signs of weakness in consumer demand.

Swedish construction firm Skanska surged 4.2 percent after its third-quarter profit topped expectations.

Italian bank UniCredit rallied 3.7 percent after raising its 2022 profit goal. Spanish lender Santander fell 3.3 percent after announcing a rise in loan loss provisions and costs.

WPP tumbled 3.7 percent in London after the world's largest advertising group downgraded its annual margin guidance and warned of possible economic headwinds.

Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser lost 4.5 percent after reporting a decline in sales volumes in the third quarter.

British lender Barclays dropped 1.3 percent despite reporting better-than-expected profit in the third quarter.

Precious metals mining firm Fresnillo jumped 2.7 percent after posting solid quarterly production figures and backing its 2022 production guidance.

Thales gained 2.4 percent in Paris. The maker of electrical systems for industries backed its FY22 view after reporting higher sales and order intake in its first nine months of fiscal 2022.

Sodexo rose 1.3 percent. The food services and facilities management company reported that its profit attributable to equity holders of the parent for fiscal year 2022 surged to 695 million euros from 139 million euros last year.

German energy major Uniper SE plummeted 7.4 percent. Based on preliminary results, the company said it expects an adjusted net loss of 3.2 billion euros ($3.16 billion) for the nine months to end-September.

Sportswear maker PUMA fell 2.4 percent after saying it is lagging somewhat behind inflation with its price increases.

Chemical firm BASF rose about 1 percent after backing its FY22 outlook.

Deutsche Bank gave up 1.3 percent despite posting better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter.