Europe midday: Shares lower on US tech woes, NatWest estimates miss

European shares were weaker at midday on Friday as weaker commodity prices hit miners and investors digested more poor earnings results from US tech giants Apple and Amazon.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.76% with all regional bourses lower. Britain’s mining-heavy FTSE 100 was down more than 1% as commodity prices fell on concerns of a further slowdown in China due to expanding Covid restrictions.

Sentiment was also hit by a fall on the tech-dominant US Nasdaq after Apple and Amazon reported, fuelling fears of a slowdown in the world’s biggest economy.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-low interest rates on Friday and maintained dovish guidance in contrast with the global trend of central banks hiking lending costs.

In equity news, Britain’s NatWest Bank fell 9% as earnings missed estimates and the bank prepared for more bad loans.

Volkswagen gained as the carmaker said it expected deliveries to be around the same as last year, and reported third-quarter earnings of €4.3bn.

Danone edged ahead after it raised its 2022 revenue growth forecast, as the French food group was able to raise prices to counter soaring costs.

Austrian oil and gas major OMV jumped 8.2% after third-quarter results were boosted by higher energy prices.

Shares in British Gas owner Centrica also surged after it announced the re-opening of its mothballed Rough gas storage facility off the UK's east coast, slightly easing supply concerns.

Rough had been shut for five years after the Conservative government refused to subsidise upgrade costs.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com