Europe open: Shares edge lower on downbeat tech earnings, UK farce

European shares edged lower at the open on Thursday, following weak sessions in the US and Asia, while tech heavyweights BE Semiconductor, Ericsson and Nokia fell on downbeat earnings statements.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.22% in early deals. France’s CAC-40 outperformed with a 0.36% rise.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.16% as the political chaos that has come to characterise the infant government of Prime Minister Lizz Truss reached new heights of farce last night.

Hard-right interior minister Suella Braverman quit after being caught sending an official document to a colleague via her personal email.

There were also chaotic scenes in parliament in the evening during a manifesto-busting vote to allow fracking that had been described initially, then denied, by Conservative Party whips - or enforcers - as a vote of confidence in the government.

It was been alleged by the opposition Labour Party that Conservative MPs were manhandled into the government lobby against their wishes, amid claims the chief and deputy whips had themselves quit – only for this to be denied later.

Only hours earlier, Truss insisted that she would stay in post, telling lawmakers: “I am a fighter, not a quitter.”

In the relatively mundane world of equity news, shares in telecoms giant Ericsson fell 14% after weaker-than-expected earnings.

Rival Nokia fell 5.4% after the Finnish telecom equipment maker's quarterly operating profit missed analysts' expectations.

BE Semiconductor fell 2.8% after it forecast a fall in fourth-quarter revenue, warning that US export curbs to China added more uncertainty to the industry outlook.

Luxury goods maker Hermes gained after the company saw sharp rise in sales growth with no signs of a slowdown.

Swedish Match rose 2% after Philip Morris International raised its buyout offer for the nicotine products maker.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com