European stocks fell on Friday as investors digested more quarterly earnings, but weekly losses were inevitable, with concerns regarding overheated valuations evident.
The DAX index in Germany dropped 0.8% and the CAC 40 in France declined 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.6%.
Despite the decline, sentiment had earlier been generally been supported by a healthy earnings season, with European firms expected to report growth of 4.3% in third-quarter earnings, on average, data from LSEG showed earlier this week, above the 0.4% increase analysts expected a week ago.
There are more corporate results to digest Friday.
Daimler Truck (ETR:DTGGe) reported a bigger-than-expected 40% drop in third-quarter operating profit on Friday, but the German auto giant stuck to its annual forecasts on the back of a positive momentum in Europe and a recovery in North America.
British Airways parent IAG (LON:ICAG) posted a modest rise in third-quarter operating profit, broadly matching expectations, but cautioned about softer demand for its U.S. economy-class seats.
French specialty chemicals company Arkema (EPA:AKE) lowered its full-year guidance amid weak demand in several key markets.
ITV (LON:ITV) said it was in talks with pay-TV company Sky, owned by Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), over a potential sale of the British broadcaster's media and entertainment unit for £1.6 billion ($2.15 billion) including debt.
Budget carrier Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) has reached an agreement with airplane manufacturer Airbus to reschedule its current order book, pushing back the delivery of 88 aircraft originally due by fiscal year 2030 to fiscal year 2033.
However, the main European indices reported weekly losses.
The German DAX has posted a weekly loss of around 1.7%, the CAC 40 in Paris of over 2%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is down 0.4%.
To be sure, these are modest drops in markets that have run hard for months - both the DAX and the FTSE 100 are up over 19% year-to-date, while the CAC 40 has gained over 8%.
As far as economic data are concerned, German exports rose by 1.4% in September compared with the previous month, above the forecast for a 0.5% increase.
Source: Investing.com
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