Lucy Harley-McKeown
FTSE 100 and US stocks mixed as ASML stock plunges at European market close
How major markets are performing on Tuesday
In this article:
Indexes across London, Europe and the US were mixed on Tuesday afternoon as major bank earnings begin to roll in and attention turned to chipmaker ASML (ASML) after its third quarter earnings report was published early.
Traders focused on London are digesting new data showing UK wage growth cooled to 4.9% between June and August, down from 5.1% previously.
The data suggests dampening inflationary pressure in other areas of the economy, which may give the Bank of England more confidence to cut interest rates.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) fell 0.4% by the close and the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris declined 1%.
The DAX (^GDAXI) was 0.1% higher after a mixed data in the ZEW economic sentiment survey.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) fell 0.6% after spending the morning in the green.
Across the pond, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq (^IXIC) were 0.3% and 0.7% lower respectively. The Dow (^DJI) fell 0.2%, declining after a record 43,000 point close in the previous session.
Before the bell, Goldman Sachs (GS) reported a 45% surge in third quarter profit from a year ago, thanks to a rise in dealmaking. Meanwhile, Bank of America (BAC) posted an earnings beat amid its own outperformance in investment banking.
At the close in Europe, ASML was 15.5% lower after a release showed it expects total net sales for 2024 of around €28bn (£23bn).
"A quarter-point cut in November still seems most likely, given signs that wage growth is moderating and increasingly dovish commentary from [Bank of England] governor Andrew Bailey," said Jake Finney, economist at PwC UK.
Speaking with the Guardian two weeks ago, Bailey said the bank could afford to be a "bit more aggressive" when it comes to cutting rates. The comments came following a jumbo 50 basis point cut by the bank's US counterpart, the Federal Reserve.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER14 updates