European stocks weaken ahead of key eurozone CPI release; Shell details buybacks By Investing.com

Investing.com – European stock markets fell Thursday, as investors digested more corporate quarterly results ahead of the latest eagerly-anticipated eurozone inflation data. 

At 04:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.8% lower, the in France fell 0.5% and the in the U.K. dropped 0.6%.

Eurozone CPI release in focus

Investors will be focusing closely on the release of the latest data, due later in the session, as this is likely to guide European Central Bank policymakers over the likely pace of interest rate cuts going forward.

The eurozone CPI for October is expected to rise slightly on an annual basis, to 1.9% from 1.7% the prior month, but this is still below the ECB’s 2.0% target.

ECB President said that this inflation rate will durably reach this target in the course of 2025, in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde.

“Maybe we could have started to intervene a few months earlier. But we raised rates at an unprecedented rate, and we managed to bring inflation down significantly over a short period,” Lagarde said on Thursday.

“Now I want to see that 2% target achieved on a lasting basis. In the absence of a major shock, this will be the case in the course of 2025.”

The ECB has cut interest rates three times this year, with the latest cut at its last meeting in October, the first back-to-back cut since the euro crisis in 2011.

Shell announces more buybacks

Turning to the corporate sector, there are more quarterly earnings from a number of major companies for investors to study.

Shell (LON:) stock rose 1.5% after Europe’s largest oil and gas company reported third-quarter profit of $6 billion, exceeding forecasts, and announced another $3.5 billion of share buybacks.

BNP Paribas (OTC:) stock fell over 6% after the French bank, the eurozone’s largest lender, needed increased trading activity at its investment banking division to meet quarterly profit expectations as lending headwinds remained.

Stellantis (NYSE:) stock rose 1% after the car giant stated that it was moving quickly to cut US inventories, even as quarterly revenues fell by 27%. 

AB Inbev (EBR:) stock dropped over 3% after the brewing giant posted a drop in third-quarter volumes, after a drop in sales in Asia Pacific, although a share buyback and lifted guidance has helped. 

Across the pond, both Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) topped profit and revenue expectations for the July-September period, but the tech giants also pointed to increased spending to build out AI data centers in a rush to meet vast demand.

Crude prices rise on inventories draw 

Oil prices edged higher Thursday, adding to the previous session’s gains, after an unexpected draw in U.S. inventories pointed to strength of demand in the US, the world’s largest consumer.

By 04:05 ET, the contract climbed 0.2% to $72.28 per barrel, while futures (WTI) traded 0.2% higher at $68.77 per barrel.

Both contracts rose more than 2% on Wednesday, after falling more than 6% earlier in the week on the reduced risk of a wider Middle East conflict.

U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week ending Oct. 25 to a two-year low, according to data from the , while crude inventories also posted a surprise fall.