STOXX 600 slips as Barclays, Hermes disappoint; oil climbs

The European STOXX 600 dropped on Thursday, nearly giving ‌back all of the prior session's gains as investors weighed a heavy slate of earnings reports, while higher oil prices further dampened ‌risk appetite.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined 0.84% to 639.05 ‌points by 0712 GMT, after gaining over 0.9% on Wednesday. Investors are turning to earnings to position themselves against the backdrop of political uncertainty and ⁠protests ​in France.

Kicking off European ⁠bank earnings, Barclays fell 2.5% after reporting third-quarter profit before tax of £2.3 billion ($3.08 ⁠billion), missing company-compiled estimates of £2.4 billion. The banking index fell the most ​at 2.1%.

Hermes fell 6.7% after the Birkin bag maker ⁠posted slightly weaker third-quarter revenue than analysts expected. Nestle added 2.3% after reporting better-than-expected organic ⁠sales ​growth for the third quarter.

Adding another layer of caution on Thursday, oil prices climbed over 2% after Houthi ⁠attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked broader escalation concerns and disruption of supplies. Energy-dependent ⁠Europe has ⁠been hit by soaring energy costs, which has fed price pressures and weighed on the broader stock ‌index.