European Markets Finished Mixed In Choppy Trade

(RTTNews) - The European markets ended Thursday's session with mixed results. Trading action throughout the day was choppy, with markets fluctuating between small gains and losses. A mixed bag of corporate earnings reports and concerns over some weak Chinese data overshadowed today's strong GDP report from the UK.

China's industrial profits increased at a slower pace in September, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

Industrial profits grew only 7.7 percent year-on-year in September after expanding 19.5 percent in August. The increase in August was the fastest in three years.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.06 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 0.14 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 0.25 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 0.07 percent, but the CAC 40 of France fell 0.02 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.41 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 0.40 percent.

In Frankfurt, chemical giant BASF gained 0.80 percent after reporting a fall in third-quarter profit.

Deutsche Bank rose 0.60 percent after it swung to a surprise profit in the third quarter.

In Paris, Schneider Electric dropped 3.25 percent after reporting a drop in third-quarter revenue.

Technip increased 2.21 percent after it reported stronger than expected third quarter earnings.

STMicroelectronics surged 10.52 percent after it reported third-quarter net income declined to $71 million or $0.08 per share from last year's $90 million or $0.10 per share.

In London, Barclays climbed 3.90 percent after it reported better than expected earnings.

Amec Foster plunged 20.51 percent after the oilfield services firm said it is on course to deliver results in line with expectations for 2016 and 2017.

ABB sank 6.59 percent in Zurich after industrial firm reported a 3 percent decline in third-quarter revenue after a drop in orders amid uncertainties over the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote.

Nokia plunged 7.61 percent in Helsinki after the network equipment maker reported a loss in its third quarter on lower sales amid a downturn in the networks industry.

The U.K. economy expanded more-than expected in the third quarter as robust growth in services offset the contractions in other sectors, adding strength to the view that the impact of the 'Brexit' vote was less severe than thought earlier.

Gross domestic product climbed 0.5 percent sequentially in third quarter, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday. The expansion was faster than the expected growth of 0.3 percent. Nonetheless, the pace of growth eased from 0.7 percent in the second quarter.

British retailers reported the strongest increase in sales volume in a year in October, the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday. About 40 percent of retailers expect sales volume to increase, while 19 percent said they declined, giving a balance of +21 percent compared to -8 percent in September.

Italy's consumer confidence weakened for a third successive month in October to its lowest level in 15 months, while economic sentiment improved on the back of better morale in manufacturing, construction and services sectors, preliminary data from the statistical office ISTAT showed Thursday.

The consumer confidence index fell to 108 from 108.6, revised from 108.7. Economists had expected a score of 108.6. The latest reading was the lowest since July last year, when the score was 107.

Spain's unemployment rate declined in the third quarter, the statistical office INE said Thursday. The jobless rate dropped to 18.91 percent from 20.0 percent in the second quarter.

New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly edged lower in the month of September, the Commerce Department revealed in a report released on Thursday. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders dipped by 0.1 percent in September after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in August.

The slight drop surprised economists, who had expected orders to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the flat reading that had been reported for the previous month.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decrease in the week ended October 22nd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 258,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 261,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 255,000 from the 260,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Pending home sales in the U.S. saw a significant rebound in the month of September, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said its pending home sales index jumped by 1.5 percent to 110.0 in September after tumbling by 2.5 percent to a revised 108.4 in August. Economists had expected pending sales to climb by 1.0 percent.