European Markets Finished Mostly Higher Despite Early Drop

(RTTNews) - The European markets sank sharply in early trade Wednesday, following the unexpected victory by Republican candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential election yesterday. Investors had a negative reaction to the election result, due to the uncertainty that a Trump presidency brings. US futures markets tanked late Tuesday, with the Dow Futures sinking over 800 points.

However, by the time the US markets opened for trade they had largely recouped their losses. The turnaround on Wall Street sparked a similar reversal in Europe. The majority of the European markets ended Wednesday's session in the green.

Eurozone growth is set to slow next year amid increased downside risks mainly due to 'Brexit' and uncertain economic trends in China, the European Commission said Wednesday as it trimmed the 19-nation economy's outlook.

The executive arm of the European Union raised the euro area growth forecast for this year to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent in its autumn forecast.

However, the growth projection for next year was trimmed to 1.5 percent from 1.8 percent. The Eurozone economy was forecast to expand 1.7 percent in 2018.

The EU economy as a whole is expected to grow 1.8 percent this year, same as seen earlier. The outlook for next year was cut to 1.6 percent from 1.9 percent. Growth was seen improving to 1.8 percent in 2018.

"Risks to the forecast have risen in recent months and are clearly tilted to the downside, including as a result of the UK 'leave' vote, which has raised uncertainty and can be seen as an indicator of heightened policy risks in the current volatile political environment," the European Commission said.

"External risks, such as uncertain economic trends in China and the risk of aggravating geopolitical conflicts have also risen."

The French economy is likely to expand 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a monthly survey from the Bank of France.

The business confidence index held steady at 99 in October, in line with expectations. The reading for September was revised up from 98. Business leaders forecast industrial production to grow more markedly in November.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 1.49 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks increased 1.09 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, added 1.67 percent.

The DAX of Germany climbed 1.56 percent and the CAC 40 of France rose 1.49 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 1.00 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished higher by 1.99 percent.

In Frankfurt, reinsurer Munich Re rose 0.03 percent after its third-quarter profit fell below expectations.

Fresenius jumped 6.84 percent and Fresenius Medical Care added 2.87 percent. Bayer increased 5.43 percent and Merck KGa gained 4.66 percent.

In Paris, Alstom SA climbed 9.04 percent after the speed-train maker reported outstanding results for the first half of 2016/17.

Shares of Sanofi surged 5.84 percent.

In London, luxury brand Burberry Group fell 2.03 percent after reporting a 40 percent drop in first-half profit.

J Sainsbury dropped 6.58 percent after the food retailer warned of lower profits in the second half.

House builder Redrow increased 5.71 percent after it issued an upbeat trading statement.

Brewer Carlsberg A/S decreased 1.46 percent in Copenhagen, despite upgrading its 2016 earnings expectations.

The U.K. visible trade deficit widened in September, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday. The balance on trade in goods showed a shortfall of GBP 12.7 billion compared to a deficit of GBP 11.1 billion registered in August. The deficit was seen at GBP 11.36 billion.

Consumer prices in China were up 2.1 percent on year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was in line with expectations and up from 1.9 percent in September.

With a drop in durable goods inventories partly offsetting a rebound in non-durable goods inventories, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing only a slight uptick in U.S. wholesale inventories in the month of September.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in September after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in August. Economists had expected inventories to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.