A Shell gas station on May 03, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
LONDON — The European stock market finished lower Thursday as traders assessed regional earnings reports.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session down almost 1.1%, with all major bourses in negative territory.
It was another busy day of earnings reports in Europe with BBVA, BNP Paribas, Vinci, BMW, Siemens Healthineers, Anglo American, Danske Bank, ArcelorMittal, Moller Maersk and Vestas Wind Systems among the companies reporting.
Rheinmetall closed 6.5% lower after it indicated weak preliminary forecasts for 2026 during an investor and analyst call.
The company now expects full-year revenues of around 13.6 billion euros due to lower-than-expected growth in all defense divisions, according to a Reuters report.
Volvo Cars also announced earnings Thursday. It said fourth-quarter operating income excluding items affecting comparability fell by 68% to 1.8 billion Swedish krona ($200.46 million) compared to the same period a year prior. Shares finished down 22.5%.
British oil major Shell on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit amid lower crude prices, with adjusted earnings of $3.26 billion for the quarter, missing analyst expectations of $3.53 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus. Shell ended the session 3.4% lower.
The Bank of England left its interest rate unchanged at 3.75%.
The yield on 10-year gilts — the benchmark for U.K. government borrowing — rose about 1 basis point to 4.546%, while sterling was last seen down 0.71% against the dollar at $1.3553 following the decision.
The European Central Bank also held its key interest rate steady, at 2%, on Thursday afternoon.
Global markets have experienced turbulence this week, with Wall Street seeing a second straight day of losses Wednesday following a selloff in software stocks.
S&P 500 futures rose overnight after the latest batch of corporate earnings, including Alphabet results. The quarterly results of fellow “Magnificent Seven” member Amazon are due Thursday.
Meanwhile, in Asia-Pacific markets overnight, South Korean stocks led declines, tracking Wall Street losses as the tech sell-off gained momentum.
Data releases in Europe on Thursday include German factory orders, French industrial production and EU retail sales.
— Jordan Butt contributed to this report