European Stocks Close Mostly Lower As Investors Await Central Banks Rate Decisions

(RTTNews) - European stocks settled mostly lower on Tuesday as investors reacted a slew of corporate earnings announcements, and awaited the interest rate decisions from several central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Investors also continued to monitor the developments on the trade front. U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in South Korea on Thursday.

Data showing a drop in German consumer confidence in the month of October weighed on sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.25%. Germany's DAX edged down 0.1% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.27%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.44%. Switzerland's SMI closed down by 1.34%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden ended higher.

Finland, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland and Portugal ended flat.

In the UK market, Airtel Africa soared nearly 16.5% after reporting profit after tax of $376 million for the six months ending September 30, 2025, a whopping jump from $79 million in the corresponding period last year. This performance was boosted by currency gains and successful strategy implementation.

HSBC Holdings climbed 4.6% after raising its profit outlook for 2025 despite reporting a 14% decline in third-quarter pretax profit. In the third quarter, profit before tax fell 14% to $7.30 billion from last year's $8.48 billion.

Looking ahead, HSBC now expects banking Net interest income to be $43 billion or better in 2025, reflecting increased confidence in the near-term trajectory for policy rates in key markets, including in Hong Kong and the UK.

Vodafone Group gained about 4.5%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Barclays Group, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Standard Chartered closed higher by 2 to 2.5%.

Barratt Redrow ended nearly 2.5% down. Burberry Group, Rentokil Initial, LSE, Berkeley Group Holdings, St. James's Place, Bunzl, BT Group, Marks & Spencer, Experian, Whitbread, Ashtead Group, Segro and RightMove lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Symrise closed down by more than 4% after cutting its full-year organic growth outlook. Symrise AG, which reported third quarter revenue of 1.22 billion euros, compared to 1.26 billion euros, last year, with an organic sales growth of 1.4%, updated full-year organic growth outlook to 2.3%-3.3% from prior outlook 3.0%-5.0%; and reaffirmed EBITDA margin outlook of approximately 21.5%.

Symrise reaffirmed 2028 mid-term targets, aiming for an organic growth of 5% to 7% CAGR, and an EBITDA margin in the range of 21% to 23%.

Deutsche Boerse, Gea Group, Qiagen, Adidas, Beiersdorf, Hannover Rueck, Siemens Healthineers and Zalando lost 1 to 2%.

RWE, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Post, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Bank and E.On gained 1 to 1.6%.

In the French market, BNP Paribas closed lower by more than 4% despite reporting a 6.1% jump in third-quarter net income at 3.044 billion euros, compared to the year-ago quarter. The numbers fell short of expectations.

Vinci, Dassault Systemes, L'Oreal, Saint-Gobain, Eurofins Scientific, Sanofi, Bouygues, Schneider Electric and Accor ended with sharp to moderate losses.

Edenred rallied nearly 3.5%. Capgemini climbed about 1.7%. Stellantis, Publicis Groupe, Renault, STMicroElectronics and Air Liquide gained 1 to 1.7%.

On the economic front, German consumer confidence is set to continue its downward trend in November on weaker income expectations, survey data published jointly by NIQ/GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed.

The consumer climate indicator fell unexpectedly to -24.1 in November from revised -22.5 in October. The score was expected to improve to -22.0. The reading dropped to its lowest level since April amid continued geopolitical uncertainty and higher inflation.