European stocks slip lower; UK budget, earnings and growth data in focus

Investing.com – European stock markets slipped lower Wednesday, as investors digested more quarterly earnings results while awaiting regional growth data as well as the UK budget. 

At 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.4% lower, the in France fell 0.8% and the in the U.K. dropped 0.5%.

UK budget among many risk events

The last trading day of October has started on a cautious note as investors hunker down ahead of the various risk events, including the first budget from Britain’s Labour government after 14 years of Conservative rule.

Investors are wary of what may be the biggest tax hikes in three decades, as well as increased borrowing, given the Labour Party’s pre-election promises to fix the country’s struggling public services.

On the economic front, the French economy showed some signs of encouragement, helped by the impact of the Paris Olympic Games, with data released earlier Wednesday revealing its third-quarter rose 0.4% on the quarter, slightly ahead of the 0.3% growth expected.

There are also GDP numbers due Wednesday from and , but the focus will be on the release amid fears the eurozone’s largest economy is in recession.

Across the pond, the third-quarter growth figures are likely to offer up a contrast, with the world’s largest economy set to maintain a solid pace of growth.

UBS impresses with Q3 profit

Turning to the corporate sector, Wednesday is another busy day for earnings and business updates.

UBS (SIX:) stock rose 2% after the Swiss banking giant posted robust third-quarter profit after completing the first wave of client migrations from Credit Suisse since acquiring its rival last year.

Standard Chartered (OTC:) stock rose 3% after the UK lender’s quarterly profit topped market estimates, and said it will double down on its wealth business.

Aston Martin (LON:) stock rose 4% after the luxury carmaker reported a smaller-than-expected third-quarter loss on Wednesday and reaffirmed its annual forecast.

Telenor (OL:) stock rose 2.4% after the Norwegian telecom operator raised its full-year outlook after reporting third-quarter earnings slightly ahead of market expectations.

Volkswagen (ETR:) stock rose 2% despite the German automaker reporting a 42% drop in third-quarter operating profit, as it undertakes an unprecedented restructuring that could include thousands of job cuts.

Capgemini (EPA:) stock fell 3.8% after the French IT consulting group cut its 2024 revenue target for the second time this year, citing continued weakness in some of its markets.

Across the pond, Alphabet (NASDAQ:) will be in the spotlight after the Google parent said its AI investments were “paying off” as its earnings and revenue came in ahead of analyst’s expectations.

Fellow tech giants Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) are due to release earnings after the close Wednesday.

Crude gains after API draw 

Oil prices rose Wednesday, recouping some of the recent losses as industry data showed an unexpected draw in U.S. inventories.

By 04:15 ET, the contract climbed 0.9% to $71.33 per barrel, while futures (WTI) traded 0.9% higher at $67.84 per barrel.

Data from the showed U.S. oil inventories fell 0.57 million barrels in the past week, compared with expectations for a build of 2.3 million barrels.

The official data is due later on Wednesday, and if this data matches the API numbers then it could indicate supplies in the world’s biggest fuel consumer were somewhat tight.