Europe close: Stocks swing lower as US shutdown ends

(Sharecast News) - European equities slipped on Thursday after hitting a fresh intra-day high, as investors weighed the end of the US government shutdown against a weaker set of economic data from both the eurozone and the UK. The Stoxx 600 fell 0.61% to 580.67 after touching a record 586.94 in morning trade.

Germany's DAX dropped 1.39% to 24,041.62, France's CAC 40 eased 0.11% to 8,232.49 and London's FTSE 100 declined 1.05% to 9,807.68.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said the FTSE 100's latest push toward the 10,000 level was "held back in its latest attempt to make the 10,000 summit by some shares trading ex-dividend and some poorly received corporate updates".

He added that this outweighed the supportive effects of currency markets, noting that "a weaker pound ... saw the FTSE 100 dip slightly in early trading on Thursday".

Sentiment initially improved after US president Donald Trump signed a funding bill to end the longest federal government shutdown in history, ensuring operations are financed until the end of January.

The House of Representatives approved the measure late on Wednesday in a 222-209 vote.

Patrick Munnelly at TickMill noted that "president Donald Trump officially ended the longest government shutdown in US history with a late-night signing ceremony", though he warned that "the timeline for the full restoration of government operations remains uncertain, leaving many wondering when normal services will resume."

He also said investors were now focused on delayed US economic data, with September's jobs report potentially becoming "one of the first key indicators to emerge".

Eurozone industrial production rises, UK economy unexpectedly contracts

Attention soon shifted to the region's mixed economic backdrop, however, which tempered early gains.

Eurozone industrial production rose 0.2% in September, missing expectations for a stronger rebound following August's 1.1% drop.

Energy output increased 1.2% but non-durable consumer goods contracted 2.6%.

Germany led the improvement with a 1.9% gain after a steep decline in August, while France, Spain and Italy also posted modest increases.

Longer-term, output remained subdued.

"The overall eurozone trend since the US announced the increase in tariffs in April has been flat," said Bert Colijn, chief economist for the Netherlands at ING.

"This indicates that manufacturing production has moved into a slightly higher gear, but at the same time, we also don't see any growth at this level."

In the UK, GDP unexpectedly fell 0.1% in September, reflecting a steep 28.6% drop in motor vehicle production after a cyberattack halted activity at Jaguar Land Rover.

Munnelly said the ONS data "fell 0.1 percentage points short of both consensus expectations and the Bank of England's ... forecast", highlighting the drag from the automotive sector.

He added that while nine of fourteen services subsectors grew, the broader picture "reinforc[es] expectations of a higher probability for a BoE rate cut in December."

The ONS said growth slowed across the third quarter, with services the only segment providing support.

Liz McKeown, the ONS's director of economic statistics, noted "a particularly marked fall in car production" and weakness in manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Barret Kupelian, chief economist at PwC, said the data showed the economy had slipped into "wait-and-see mode ahead of the Autumn Budget".

Housing activity also softened ahead of the 26 November Budget.

The latest RICS survey pointed to falling buyer demand, weaker sales and declining instructions, with the headline house-price balance slipping to -19.

Tarrant Parsons, head of market research at RICS, said uncertainty around potential tax changes was "compounding the cautious mood", while Derren Nathan at Hargreaves Lansdown warned that London and the southeast appeared "particularly exposed".

Convatec in the green, Burberry swings to close lower

Corporate updates added to the mixed picture - Convatec rose 5.07% after reaffirming it was on track to meet financial targets.

Sabadell dropped 5.22% as lending income remained under pressure in the third quarter.

Burberry swung sharply during the session, briefly jumping after reporting its first rise in comparable store sales in two years before closing down 2.03%.

Mould said the muted share price reaction "is no great surprise", but stressed the importance of the company's progress, adding that "a first increase in quarterly sales in two years and a return to growth in China ... demonstrates the progress chief executive Joshua Schulman is making."

Private equity group 3i fell 17.42% despite a solid first-half investment performance.

Mould said the company's update was "a little short of expectations", noting that warnings of an uncertain backdrop "will raise concerns about the outlook for Action and its wider portfolio."

Siemens Healthineers lost 3.35% following reports that Siemens would distribute its remaining 30% stake in the company to shareholders.

Italy's Azimut slumped 10.07% after the Bank of Italy identified shortcomings in its governance and organisational structure.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.