Markets under pressure | Calamatta Cuschieri

European stocks were under pressure on Thursday as investors digested disappointing corporate earnings, and showed signs concern over a slowdown in China’s industrial sector. Better-then-expected growth data from the UK wasn’t enough to spur optimism in London or around Europe, as the main index’s closed in the red. Similarly, US equities turned lower as a selloff in defensive sectors such as real estate and utilities outweighed deal news between NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm.

Bank shares

Deutsche Bank shares were back in the spotlight on Thursday. The company released better-than-expected revenue results for the third quarter, sending its shares trading in positive territory. Staying with bank shares, Barclays was on top of the FTSE thanks to a better than forecast rise in pretax profits for its third quarter. Shares rose 4.5% during the session.

Twitter back in the green

Twitter was also back in the green on Thursday after the social media company also beat profit and sales expectations. Separately, the company said it will be cutting 9% of its workforce, confirming a Bloomberg report earlier this week, as part of a restructuring attempt to reorganize sales, marketing efforts and partnerships.

Corporate earnings have done well relative to expectations. According to data from The Earnings Scout, 39 percent of S&P 500 components had posted results as of Wednesday morning, with 76 percent beating earnings estimates and 62 percent topping sales expectations.

Merger news

In other news, shares of NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm were both trading in positive territory on Thursday following merger news. NXP announced it is in a deal to be acquired by Qualcomm that would value NXP at around $38 billion. Qualcomm shares rallied 4% and NXP was up 1.5%.

Economic news

In economic news, the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell 3,000 to 258,000, while durable goods for September unexpectedly fell. A gauge of pending home sales rose 1.5% in September, reversing an August decline.

U.S. economic data has been of special importance to investors recently, as they gauge the likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising rates later this year. The central bank is scheduled to meet next week and, while monetary policy is largely expected to remain unchanged, market participants expect a quarter-point rate increase after the Fed's December meeting.

This article was issued by Rebecca Naudi, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investments Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.