European shares fall as HSBC weighs, France protests keep investors wary
French equities fell more than 2% last week
EUROPEAN shares fell on Tuesday (Oct 27) after disappointing earnings from HSBC weighed on banking shares, while ongoing tensions in France added to investor caution.
HSBC fell 6.9 per cent, after Europe’s largest bank’s revenue came in below estimates, in part due to slower growth at its wealth business.
The losses dragged the bank index that dropped 1.3 per cent. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2 per cent at 639.64 points by 0805 GMT, after climbing nearly 0.8 per cent on Monday.
Investor sentiment remained fragile as French student leaders vowed to go on protesting despite government concessions on education, raising concerns as the movement spreads to unions and other activists, stokes unrest and deepens the economic damage.
French equities fell more than 2 per cent last week as protests shook investor confidence in the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
Novartis raised its full-year core operating income guidance, sending the shares of the Swiss drugmaker up 3.1 per cent. REUTERS
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