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SummaryCompaniesSantander gains after Q3 net profit beats forecastsMercedes jumps after auto margins better-than-expectedGSK gains after full-year sales forecast hike Oct 29 (Reuters) - Europe's STOXX 600 was muted on Wednesday as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision later in the day, while parsing through a raft of corporate earnings. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab closed 0.1% lower after hitting an intraday record high. Most regional bourses ended higher with UK's FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab and Spain's IBEX 35 (.IBEX), opens new tab hitting record highs. The Fed is widely expected to deliver a 25-basis-points interest rate cut at its meeting, but focus will remain on Chair Jerome Powell's commentary, which could set the tone for global markets this week. Advertisement · Scroll to continue In Europe, earnings took centre stage, after Tuesday's forecasts showed a slightly improved outlook for corporate health. Banks (.SX7P), opens new tab gained 1.4%, among the biggest boosts to the index. Spain's Santander (SAN.MC), opens new tab gained 4.3% after third-quarter net profit beat forecasts. Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), opens new tab rose 5% after posting an increase in third-quarter profit, while UBS (UBSG.S), opens new tab fell despite a surge in net profit for the same period. Healthcare stocks (.SXDP), opens new tab added 0.6%. Drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab rose 6.6% after raising its 2025 sales and earnings expectations. Straumann (STMN.S), opens new tab advanced 7.6% after the dental implant maker reported a rise in third-quarter organic sales. Advertisement · Scroll to continue Get the key points from this story with Reuters AI Miners (.SXPP), opens new tab and oil majors (.SXEP), opens new tab rose 1.8% and 1.3% respectively, tracking sharp rises in prices of gold, copper and oil. "European earnings entered this season with a very low bar. We are seeing beats come through, most notably from banks, but that's not yet sufficient to move the needle to justify overall European equity optimism at this juncture," said Laura Cooper, head of macro credit at Nuveen. The telecom sector (.SXKP), opens new tab fell 2% after Telenor's (TEL.OL), opens new tab lacklustre results pushed it 6% lower and Nokia (NOKIA.HE), opens new tab eased 4.3% after Tuesday's over 20% jump. Other catalysts include a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping, and the European Central Bank's policy meeting, both on Thursday. "Medium-term inflation is moving towards 2%... the ECB is in a happy place and can afford to wait and watch," said analysts at Jefferies. Ad Break Coming Up NEXT StayNext OffEnglish 180p288p360p480p540p576p720pHD1080pHDAuto (180p) About ConnatixV2127676363 About ConnatixV2127676363 Continue watchingafter the adVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE Among others, Mercedes' (MBGn.DE), opens new tab 4.4% gain after the German carmaker reported stronger-than-expected margins at its core autos business, boosted auto stocks (.SXAP), opens new tab. Consumer discretionary companies dragged down by Adidas' (ADSGn.DE), opens new tab 10.4% decline after its group sales dipped 5% in North America in the third quarter. Temenos (TEMN.S), opens new tab and Next (NXT.L), opens new tab topped the STOXX 600 with a 19.7% and 8.8% gain respectively, after raising their forecast for annual earnings. Earnings from U.S. Big Tech companies Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab will be scrutinized as stretched tech valuations come into question, especially after Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab topped $5 trillion in market valuation. Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Vijay Kishore and Aurora Ellis Purchase Licensing Rights
