Europe open: Stocks waver but Allianz and Altice rally

European stocks wavered in early trade as investors continued to mull the implications of Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

At 0830 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, Germany’s DAX was 0.3% firmer and France’s CAC 40 was flat.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.8% at $44.29 a barrel and Brent crude down 0.6% at $45.55.

Dave Jeal, head of investment products at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: “While markets hate uncertainty, they fear events. Wednesday's reaction to the Trump victory mirrored that of the UK's Brexit decision - albeit the recovery from the initial shock was a lot quicker. And there are more events on the horizon.”

Jeal pointed to elections in Europe and the potential for a UK general election.

“The Fed's next chance to raise rates, having held off just ahead of the election is at its mid-December meeting. While the market had earlier priced in a 73% likelihood of a rise, albeit a small one, Trump's victory may lead to a further stay while the Fed assesses its impact. For while Trump has spoken out against 'artificially low' rates, the Fed may feel a rise in December, ahead of any assessment of key policy statements from the new President , to be precipitous.”

In corporate news, Allianz rallied after the insurer’s third-quarter net income surpassed analysts’ expectations, while Altice pushed higher after reporting an improvement in third-quarter earnings.

Global mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat gained ground after announcing that it will provide its new ‘GX for Aviation’ in-flight broadband solution to Austrian Airlines' continental aircraft fleet under a “landmark” new contract.

Shell slipped back following a report that it plans to continue investing heavily in Brazil over the next five years, with the aim of doubling its deep-water production by the early 2020s.

On the macroeconomic front, data from Destatis confirmed German inflation was at a two-year high in October.

Consumer prices last month rose 0.2% from September and 0.8% from October last year, which is its highest level since October 2014. Meanwhile, the annual rate of inflation came in at 0.7%. This was in line with consensus and the original estimate.

Energy prices fell 1.4% from October 2015, while food prices were unchanged.

In the European Union, consumer prices were up 0.2% on the month and 0.7% compared to October 2015.