HSBC weighs on European banking stocks
Published Feb 20, 2018 10:08
HSBC weighs on European banking stocks
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON (Reuters) - European shares were mixed ahead of Wall Street's return from a holiday, with banks falling after HSBC (L:HSBA) reported weaker than expected earnings and said it needed as much as $7 billion of fresh capital.
At 0955 GMT, the pan-regional STOXX 600 (STOXX) benchmark was unchanged at 378.24 points after Europe ended a three-day recovery during the previous session. The banks index (SX7P) was down 0.7 percent.
HSBC was on track for its biggest daily share fall in a year after its trading update, the last under outgoing CEO Stuart Gulliver who has pushed through a painful restructuring of Europe's biggest bank by market value.
Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) analysts said HSBC's pledge to undertake share buybacks "as and when appropriate" could mark a change in capital return strategy by the new management.
Some positive earnings buoyed sentiment.
Edenred (PA:EDEN) was among top performers, rising 7 percent after the French provider of prepaid meal vouchers and cards reported record 2017 earnings, increased its dividend and expressed confidence for 2018.
Danish software developer Simcorp (CO:SIM) led the Stoxx index with a 8.7 percent rise after its full year results.
Energy stocks supported indices, with BP (L:BP), Total (PA:TOTF), Royal Dutch Shell (AS:RDSa) and ENI (MI:ENI) up between 0.3 percent and 0.6 percent.
London's FTSE fell 0.5 percent, pulled lower by HSBC and by the world's biggest miner, BHP, after it missed results forecasts, sending its shares down 3.6 percent.
InterContinental Hotels (L:IHG) fell 4.5 percent after putting shareholder payouts on ice as it tries a new strategy to accelerate growth.
Financial software company Temenos (S:TEMN) dropped 6 percent after news it was in advance talks to buy UK rival Fidessa Group (L:FDSA) for about 1.4 billion pounds.
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Germany's HeidelbergCement (DE:HEIG) gained 1.7 percent after it raised its target for synergies from the takeover of Italcementi for the third time in less than a year.
Written By: Reuters
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