Europe midday: Stocks little changed as bank earnings digested

European stocks wavered on Thursday as investors digested uninspiring Chinese data and sifted through more earnings releases, with banks in the spotlight.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index and Germany’s DAX were flat, while France’s CAC 40 was down 0.2%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were higher, recovering from the sharp losses seen on Wednesday on the back of growing doubts over OPEC’s proposed production cut. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.6% at $49.45 a barrel and Brent crude was 0.8% firmer at $50.39.

Sentiment was undermined somewhat by data showing a decline in Chinese industrial profit growth last month. Figures released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed profits in September were up 7.7% to 577.1bn yuan, slowing significantly from a 19.5% increase in September.

At the same time, market participants were sinking their teeth into a series of bank earnings. Deutsche Bank nudged just a touch higher after it swung to an unexpected profit in the third quarter; net income came in at €278m versus analysts’ expectations of a loss of around €610m.

CMC Markets’ Jasper Lawler said: “The results are especially welcome since a lot of the trouble surrounding the bank has focused on its inability to produce the profits necessary to pay its litigation costs. Litigation costs for DB were reduced in the quarter, bolstering the numbers. However the US Department of Justice will make sure that’s not the case in the following quarters.”

In London, Barclays advanced after reporting a 35% rise in third-quarter pre-tax profit to £837m as revenue from the fixed income division surged 40%.

Spains’ BBVA rallied as it posted a better-than-expected 23% jump in third-quarter profit.

Away from banks, Amec Foster Wheeler tumbled as it postponed its capital markets day until next year and said it expects a further drop in oil and gas revenue in 2017.

Nokia suffered big losses after the telecom equipment maker posted a net loss for the third quarter and cautioned that network markets were tough.