European Shares Extend Losses On Growth Worries; Banks Shine

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell slightly in choppy trade Wednesday as the continuous slide in oil prices and global growth concerns offset well-received earnings updates from European lenders HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and ING.

Regional economic reports painted a mixed picture, with British service sector activity contracting for the first time in over three-and-a-half years and at the fastest pace in more than seven years, while the euro area private sector expanded more than estimated in July and Eurozone retail sales remained flat as expected in June.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said today that it expects the U.K. economy to shrink by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of this year, with GDP growth pegged at 1.7 percent this year and 1 percent in 2017. The economy has a 50 percent risk of suffering a mild recession before the end of 2017, it added.

All eyes now turn to the Bank of England's decision on interest rates tomorrow, with the central bank widely expected to cut interest rates to new record lows in response to Brexit-induced economic uncertainty.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was marginally lower in midday trading after declining 1.3 percent in the previous session. The German DAX was little changed, while France's CAC 40 index was losing 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was declining 0.2 percent.

Power solutions specialist Aggreko plunged 12 percent in London on reporting a 40 percent fall in its first-half pretax profit.

Insurer AXA lost 2 percent in Paris on reporting flat underlying earnings in the first six months of the year.

Automaker BMW slid marginally in Frankfurt and Volkswagen lost about 1 percent after unveiling their U.S. sales figures for July.

Publisher Axel Springer dropped 3 percent after cutting its 2016 sales guidance.

Dutch lender ING Group soared 8 percent after its second-quarter profit more than tripled.

British lender HSBC Holdings soared 4 percent. The Asia-focused lender announced a $2.5 billion share buyback in the second half of the year despite reporting a 29 percent fall in first-half profit.

Standard Chartered jumped as much as 6 percent after returning to profit in the first half.

Retailer Next Plc rallied 3.5 percent on reporting a rise in second-quarter sales.

Societe Generale climbed 3 percent as the French lender reported an 8 percent rise in second-quarter profit, boosted by lower provisions for bad loans and the sale of its stake in Visa Europe.

Crédit Agricole rose over 1 percent on reporting a 26 percent rise in second-quarter net profit, boosted by income from a stake sale in Visa Europe.