Europe open: Stocks waver as investors sift through bank earnings

European stocks wavered in early trade as investors digested uninspiring Chinese data and sifted through bank earnings.

At 0905 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index and France’s CAC 40 were flat, while Germany’s DAX was down 0.2%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were steady after falling sharply on Wednesday amid growing doubts over OPEC’s proposed production cut, with West Texas Intermediate flat at $49.16 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.1% at $50.02.

Investors were mulling over 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.

Bank earnings were in focus on Thursday. 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.

Connor Campbell at Spreadex said: “It is interesting that the DAX finds itself in the red given that Deutsche Bank, for whom troubled barely begins to cover it, managed to post a third quarter profit...However, the bank saw revenue slide in all but its investment banking division, with company blaming the ‘impact of the ongoing low interest rate environment’.

"Considering that is unlikely to change any time soon it becomes slightly more understandable that Deutsche Bank has lost half a percent despite that surprise profit.”

In London, Barclays edged higher 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.