European markets close 1.2% lower as tech stocks plunge; UK banks rise on budget

Shares of Britain's banks rose on Wednesday afternoon after it appeared the Labour government's first budget in nearly 15 years would stop short of imposing a levy on the sector's profits.

Among a litany of tax rises announced to allow for more borrowing to boost investment, U.K. Rachel Reeves did not mention whether the government had plans to raise taxes on the country's banks.

Shares of Barclays rose 3% on the news, with NatWest up more than 2% and Lloyds trading 0.3% higher.

— Sam Meredith

U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves confirmed a move to target public sector net financial liabilities (PSNFL) as a measure of the country's debt in a move designed to free up billions of pounds for long-term investments.

Reeves said the move to target PSNFL, rather than public sector net debt, means she will be left with £15.7 billion ($20.4 billion) of headroom at the end of the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast period.

That's "much lower than expected," said Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an influential think tank.

The PSNFL measure takes in a wider account of the government's balance sheet, including financial assets and liabilities, than public sector net debt.

Reeves said last week that she intended to change the country's fiscal rules but had stopped short of specifying exactly what the new so-called investment rule would change.

— Sam Meredith

Germany's inflation surged to 2.4% in October, back above the European Central Bank's 2% target, even as the country narrowly avoided a technical recession in the third quarter.

The preliminary print, announced by German statistics office Destatis, is harmonized across the euro area for comparability.

Analysts polled by Reuters had been expecting harmonized inflation to come in at 2.1% in October.

Read the full story here.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Shares of U.K. homebuilders rose on Wednesday afternoon, extending gains as U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves delivered the Labour government's budget plan.

Homebuilders Barratt and Persimmon gained 2.8% and 2.2%, respectively. Shares of Vistry added 1.8%, while Taylor Wimpey was last seen trading 2% higher.

— Sam Meredith

U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves on Wednesday said the budget would raise taxes by £40 billion ($51.86 billion) in a bid to plug what the Labour government has described as a "black hole" in the country's public finances.

Follow our budget live blog here.

— Sam Meredith

The British Sterling extended losses recorded earlier in the day against the dollar as Finance Minister Rachel Reeves presented the U.K. budget on Wednesday.

Sterling was last down 0.58% to trade at $1.2940 at 12:56 p.m. London time.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized pace of 2.8% during the third quarter. That is slower than the expected 3.1% increase from economists polled by Dow Jones.

— Fred Imbert

Novo Nordisk shares on Wednesday fell to levels last seen in January of 2024 according to LSEG data, pulling back after competitor Eli Lilly posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results.

Eli Lilly missed expectations for profit and revenue in the third quarter and cut its adjusted profit guidance for the full year 2024 on Wednesday. Eli Lilly's stock tumbled as much as 10% at one point in premarket trading.

Europe-traded Novo Nordisk shares were last down 3.88% at 11:20 a.m. London time. The company is set to report its own third-quarter earnings results next week.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Shares in Capgemini fell as much as 8% at one point on Wednesday after the French IT consulting firm said it was trimming its revenue target for the full year 2024.

The company said it was now expecting its revenue to decline between 2% and 2.4% at constant currency, compared to the previously expected dip of 0.5% to 1.5%.

Revenue in the third quarter came in at 5.38 billion euros ($5.83 billion), Capgemini said Wednesday, which was 1.6% lower year on year at constant exchange rates.

Shares were last seen down 7.92% at 10:56 a.m. London time.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The euro zone economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter of 2024, beating expectations, flash figures from the European Union's statistics agency showed Wednesday.

This was above the 0.3% increase the zone recorded in the second quarter and also ahead of the 0.2% growth economists polled by Reuters had been expecting.

Read the full story here.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The German economy grew by 0.2% in the third quarter of 2024 when compared to the previous three months, the country's statistics office Destatis said Wednesday in a preliminary gross domestic product data release.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 0.1% decline.

Destatis also revised the GDP figures for the second quarter lower to a 0.3% contraction, down from a 0.1% dip that was previously reported.

The growth in the third quarter means Germany has skirted a technical recession — which is marked by two consecutive quarters of contraction — for now. Germany's GDP had increased 0.2% in the first quarter of the year.

— Sophie Kiderlin

France's gross domestic product rose by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2024 from 0.2% over April-June, preliminary data from statistics office Insee showed on Wednesday.

The third-quarter print came in just above the 0.3% economists polled by Reuters had expected.

The agency said economic growth received a boost from the Paris Olympics and Paralympics which took place between July and September of this year.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Shares of Switzerland's Georg Fischer surged more than 15% during morning deals, hitting the top of the European benchmark and putting the industrial group on track for its best day since October 2008, Reuters reported.

At the other end of the Stoxx 600, Italy's Campari fell over 14% after reporting a third-quarter earnings miss.

— Sam Meredith

European stocks were lower on Wednesday as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded down around 0.45% shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors in negative territory.

— Sam Meredith

U.K. clothing retailer Next on Wednesday forecast annual profit in excess of £1 billion ($1.3 billion) as it raised its full-year guidance on the back of improved third-quarter sales.

Next said full-price sales in the August to October period rose 7.6% from last year, comfortably topping the firm's guidance of a 5% jump in quarterly sales.

The firm attributed the robust performance to the early arrival of colder weather this year, in contrast to an unusually warm September and early October in 2023.

Next upgraded its profit guidance for the full-year to £1.005 billion, up from its previous forecast of £995 million.

— Sam Meredith

Britain's Aston Martin posted a smaller-than-expected third-quarter loss, with the luxury carmaker saying it remains on track to deliver on its revised full-year guidance as supply chain disruptions are "proactively managed."

The company reported an adjusted loss before tax of £10.3 million ($13.4 million) for the July-September period, above analyst expectations of a loss of £92 million, Reuters reported.

"Improved financial and operational performance in Q3 2024, demonstrates our strategy's effectiveness," Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a statement.

"We are on track to meet our revised Full Year 2024 guidance, which reflects the necessary action taken in September to adjust our production volumes given supplier disruption, which we are proactively managing, and the weak macroeconomic environment in China," Hallmark said.

— Sam Meredith

Germany's Volkswagen reported a substantial drop in third-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, citing higher fixed costs and significant restructuring expenses.

The crisis-stricken automaker, which is contemplating plant closures in Germany for the first time in its history, posted operating profit of 2.86 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in the third quarter, a 42% drop from the 4.9 billion euros during the same period a year earlier.

The Volkswagen works council warned earlier in the week that the company's management was planning widespread pay cuts and layoffs.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

Swiss bank UBS on Wednesday reported third-quarter profit that was stronger than expected, citing progress on the integration of collapsed domestic rival Credit Suisse.

UBS said third-quarter net profit came in at $1.4 billion, beating a mean forecast of $667.5 million in an LSEG poll of analysts.

"We continue to significantly mitigate execution risk as we progress on the integration of Credit Suisse while remaining disciplined in driving our cost and efficiency targets," UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said in a statement.

"At the same time, we are investing in our people, products and capabilities, including technology, to enhance client experience, improve productivity and achieve sustainably profitable growth," he added.

Read the full story here.

— Sam Meredith

The European Union raised tariffs on China-made electric vehicles to as high as 45.3%, concluding an anti-subsidy probe that had divided member states and prompted counter measures from Beijing.

A number of Chinese EV stocks were down, including Nio, which fell about 6%; Geely, which fell about 4.7%; and Li Auto, which fell 2.6%.

The new duties will range from 7.8% for Tesla to 35.3% for China-based SAIC, on top of the EU's existing 10% car import duty.

— Dylan Butts

The U.K.'s Labour Party is set to unveil its government budget for the first time in 14 years later today.

U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves is expected to end months of speculation about the government's intention to raise taxes, change rules, and borrow to support long-term investment.

Investment bank analysts have highlighted several stocks that could win or lose if the rumored measures are unveiled or curtailed.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the stocks impacted here.

— Ganesh Rao

Japanese markets have made steady gains this week - and one bottom-up investor sees potential for it to advance even further.

"When we look at Japan — it's very difficult not to be bullish on stocks. Because even companies that are struggling in terms of earnings have depressed valuations and may not see a drastic fall in their stock price even if earnings are weak," Mio Kato, founder of capital markets firm LightStream Research, said.

"When we look at the valuations of a lot of companies, they look absurdly cheap," he added.

Kato also revealed sectors - and stocks - he is betting on right now.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Some investors believe that under a Trump presidency, higher interest rates and inflation could lead to a more expensive dollar. But Erik Knutzen, co-chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman's Multi-Asset Strategies, says that the dollar could actually decline under a Trump administration.

"The dollar did rally through the end of the year after the surprise win of Trump in 2016, but the dollar declined in value for 2017 when Trump was enacting the policies that were supposedly going to be more inflationary and cause higher interest rates," he said on CNBC's "The Exchange" on Tuesday afternoon. "Trump and his cohort actually would like to see a weaker dollar to support the American economy. Yes, the dollar may have some short-term impetus, but frankly you could probably fade that trade if Trump is not elected."

Knutzen added that the dollar will probably weaken in the near term in the scenario that Trump loses the November election.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC's live blog covering all the action and business news in European financial markets on Thursday.

Futures data from IG suggests a generally positive open for European indexes, with London's FTSE 100 seen opening 0.15% higher, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX are seen opening around the flatline, and Italy's FTSE MIB slightly higher.

The pullback in sentiment among European bourses comes ahead of the latest indicator of the state of health of major regional economies, with gross domestic product readings from the U.K. and European Union on Thursday.

European markets had ended the day higher on Wednesday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rising 0.55% after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rallied to new records yesterday. Investors are gearing up for more inflation data to assess the state of the U.S. economy.

The producer price index, due Thursday, will be significant factors in the direction interest rates take at the Federal Reserve's next meeting in September.

— Holly Ellyatt