- Turkey Day 101: How Well Do You Know Your Bird?
- $42 Billion US Bond Auction Receives Strong Demand
- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab Unit Falls Apart
- Consumer Confidence Improves but Still Shaky
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- FDIC Fund Falls into The Red, Bair Urges Lending
- Holiday Guide to This Season's Smartphones
- Six Ways to Boost Your Income in a Big Way
- Buyers Look for Bargains at Luxury Condo Auction
- My 2010 Home Price Outlook: UBS Analyst
- Why Are Options Piling into Dollar Tree?
- Novartis 'Cells' Its Flu Vaccine Technology
- Silicon Valley and Hollywood Now Fast Friends
- Markets Can Rise 5-10% in the Near-Term: Strategist
- Busch: The Debt-Interest Rate Paradox
- The Lloyd's Prayer, Leggo My Eggo, Plate Hate & Your Emails
- Buy These 'Competitively Positioned' Stocks: Portfolio Manager
- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab To Swedish Firm Falls Apart
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- FDIC Fund Falls into The Red, Bair Urges Lending
- Buyers Look For Bargains At Luxury Condo Auction
- Weak Dollar Is Golden for Mining Companies
- Revised GDP Reading Puts Growth at 2.8%; Inflation Tame
- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- Gold Will Collapse Like Oil Did in 2008: Charts
- CA "More Profitable" After Saving Energy: CEO
Text Size 
European stocks finished in negative territory Thursday, after a sharper-than-expected drop in Bank of America's third-quarter profit caused by the credit crisis dragged financial and banking stocks lower.
An unexpected jump in the number of U.S. citizens claiming unemployment benefits last week, compared to the previous week, added to the negative sentiment.
Asian indexes finished mostly in positive territory, but India suffered a late-session slump on speculation the country's Prime Minister could resign, Reuters reported. U.S. markets were lower in the wake of Bank of America's [BAC
Loading...
()
] disappointing results.
Shares of Nokia finished 2.6 percent higher as strong demand for cheaper phones boosted third-quarter earnings at the world's biggest maker of mobile phones.
Elsewhere, shares in Switzerland were among the most actively traded after three corporate titans issued results.
Swiss agrochemicals company Syngenta jumped 5.8 percent after reporting a 21 percent rise in third-quarter profit. The company also raised its outlook for the rest of the year.
Drug market Novartis also added a little strength to the Swiss market. Although the company reported a drop in third-quarter profit due to generic competition and a one-time charge, it confirmed its outlook for annual sales growth. Shares of Novartis ended the session 0.4 percent lower.
Meanwhile, Nestle gained 0.3 percent, as the food giant met its nine-month sales expectations. Nestle said it will have to increase prices to offset higher commodity costs, however.
Overall, the Swiss SMI closed lower, in line with the broader European market.
In Germany, the DAX [DAX-XE
Loading...
()
] was also lower, despite SAP's third-quarter earnings, which came in line with analysts' expectations. The software maker also unveiled plans to team up with US retail giant Wal-Mart [WMT
Loading...
()
] and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
The Paris CAC-40 index [CAC40-FR
Loading...
()
] finished firmly lower, pressured by Thomson's third-quarter revenue, which came in slightly below expectations. And London's FTSE-100 [FTIND
Loading...
()
] also sank, despite firm retail sales data for September.
Print
Email
- Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
- A diet high in fat and sugar might actually be good for your portfolio.
- A new McDonald's in Manhattan is the nation's first to sport a sleek, chic interior imported from stores in London and Paris.
- Italians were outraged by a minister's comments that lunchbreaks are bad for waistlines and the economy.
- Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes