Europe open: Shares lower as investors ponder US mid-terms
European shares were slightly lower at the open on Wednesday as investors digested the US mid-term election results after the predicted Republican “red wave” appeared to have fizzled out.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.12% at 0838 GMT with all major bourses lower. As votes were counted it appeared that the right-wing Republican Party had taken control of the House of Representatives, with the Senate still up for grabs.
However, the expected rout of the Democrats by Republican candidates still peddling the Donald Trump lie that the 2020 presidential election result was “stolen” by Joe Biden, had not materialised.
Amid all the political discussion, and impact on whether the Biden administration can now get any legislation through Congress in the next two years, investors are still nervously awaiting key inflation numbers tomorrow and what it means for the pace of policy tightening over the next few months.
In equity news, shares in UK commercial TV broadcaster ITV fell as it warned of lower advertising sales for the full year.
Smiths Group rose on upbeat earnings ahead of expectations.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com