European Shares Slip Ahead Of ECB Meeting

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded mostly lower on Thursday, with tech stocks leading losses after Facebook parent Meta Platforms forecast a weak holiday quarter and significantly more costs next year.

The downside remained capped after survey results from the market research group GfK showed that German consumer confidence is set to improve in November.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -41.9 in November, in line with expectations, from revised -42.8 in October.

The monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank is due at 8.15 AM ET.

The central bank is widely expected to hike its benchmark rate by 75 basis points to combat rising inflation. ECB Chief Christine Lagarde holds a press conference at 8.45 AM ET.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3 percent to 409.14 after gaining 0.7 percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX dipped 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 shed half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse plummeted 15 percent after posting a hefty quarterly loss. Miner Anglo American tumbled 3.3 percent in London after reporting flat third-quarter production.

Energy-services company Hunting Plc added 1.5 percent after posting improved performance in the third quarter.

Energy giant Shell rallied 3.5 percent after profits more than doubled between July and September.

Lloyds Banking Group gave up 1.6 percent after profits at the bank dropped by 26 percent in the three months to September.

Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics slumped 8.3 percent after saying it expects sales growth to slow in the last part of the year.

Casino Group shares jumped almost 19 percent. The French retailer said its third-quarter total consolidated net sales rose 5.4 percent on a same-store basis from a year earlier.

TotalEnergies gained 1 percent. The energy and petroleum company said its third-quarter earnings more than doubled to about $9.9 billion, boosted by higher LNG prices and sales.

Schneider Electric tumbled 4.2 percent despite the Group confirming its fiscal 2022 target for EBITA growth.

IT consulting firm Capgemini declined 3 percent despite posting a rise in its quarterly revenues.

German enterprise software firm Software AG fell 4.2 percent despite backing its FY22 view.

Airline Lufthansa added 2.4 percent after it forecast strong air travel demand in the months ahead.