Europe midday: Stocks struggle for direction as investors sift through earnings

European stocks wavered on Tuesday as investors sifted through a batch of mixed corporate results.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1%, while France’s CAC 40 was down 0.1% and Germany’s DAX was 0.3% lower.

“Risk appetite has been on the increase thanks to some decent corporate and economic activity, but as US earnings season winds down, investors may struggle to find the next short term catalyst to keep the momentum going,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.

On the corporate front, Standard Chartered slid after it posted a third-quarter operating loss of $139m, announced plans to raise $5.1bn in new capital and cut 15,000 jobs.

Primark owner Associated British Foods slipped after posting a 30% slump in pre-tax profit for the year ended 12 September as the company was hit by lower sugar prices and adverse currency moves.

Switzerland’s UBS was under the cosh despite posting better-than-expected third-quarter profit, as the bank cut its financial targets on the back of new capital rules and a difficult macroeconomic backdrop.

Shares in beleaguered German car maker Volkswagen fell sharply after US environment regulators said late on Monday that the company had used devices to cheat air pollution tests in luxury diesel vehicles.

Housebuilders were under the cosh in London, with Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey all sharply lower after Liberum downgraded its stance on the stocks as it pointed to margin pressures.

On the upside, Imperial Tobacco edged higher as it reported a rise in pre-tax profit and underlying tobacco net revenue for the year ended 30 September and said it was well placed to meet expectations for the coming year, despite a drop in overall revenues.

Royal Dutch Shell rose after saying it will accelerate the implementation of measures to deal with a prolonged downturn in oil prices once the acquisition of BG Group is complete.

BMW was also on the front foot as it announced a surprise increase in operating profit for the third quarter thanks to strong sales in core European markets.

The data calendar is fairly light on Tuesday, but investors will eye the release of US industrial new orders at 1500 GMT.