European markets close lower as volatility continues

U.S. stocks opened higher Monday as Wall Street looked ahead to key earnings and inflation reports to be released this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5% higher in early deals while the S&P 500 was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite, however, dipped 0.5%.

— Karen Gilchrist

The war in Ukraine is a "fight until collapse," Christopher Granville, managing director at TS Lombard says.

British packaging company DS Smith saw its shares jump more than 12% by mid-afternoon after projecting that annual performance ahead of expectations, on the back of robust revenue growth and cost-cutting measures.

At the bottom of the Stoxx 600, Britain's Oxford Nanopore shares fell more than 7% after a director share sale disclosure.

- Elliot Smith

U.K. Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng will now deliver his medium-term fiscal plan — building on the controversial Sep. 23 "mini-budget" — on Oct. 31, three weeks sooner than previously scheduled.

Last month's policy announcements spooked the market, leading the pound to all-time lows and forcing the Bank of England to intervene in the bond market to prevent the collapse of pension funds.

The new date will allow the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to assess critical data updates and embark on a full forecast process, Kwarteng told parliament's Treasury Select Committee in a letter.

- Elliot Smith

The European blue chip index briefly touched a one-week low on Monday morning, falling more than 0.8% before recouping some of its losses.

Concerns over economic growth, in the face of tightening monetary policy and the war in Ukraine, continued to dampen investor sentiment.

British packaging company DS Smith saw its shares jump more than 8% in early trade after projecting that annual performance ahead of expectations, on the back of robust revenue growth and cost-cutting measures.

At the bottom of the Stoxx 600, ams-Osram shares fell more than 9% after announcing that its CFO plans to step down from April 2023.

- Elliot Smith

The Bank of England is set to introduce further liquidity measures as it seeks to ensure financial stability in the U.K.

It comes after the central bank on Sep. 28 announced a two-week emergency two-week purchase program for long-dated U.K. government bonds. It was designed to protect liability driven investment (LDI) funds from imminent collapse.

Now, the BOE has announced further measures to ensure an "orderly end" to its purchase scheme on Oct. 14, including increasing the size of its daily auctions to allow headroom for gilt purchases ahead of Friday's deadline.

Read more here.

— Elliot Smith

As Europe struggles with soaring electricity and gas bills, Goldman Sachs says global companies focussing on energy efficiency are set to outperform.

"We think Energy Efficiency companies can outperform over the short term, with the focus on energy efficiency to tackle the current energy crisis that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine," the analysts wrote in a note on Oct. 3.

"[And] over the long term, with the focus on energy efficiency to tackle the climate change and reach the ambitious 'net zero' targets."

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— Weizhen Tan

Britain's FTSE 100 is seen around 51 points lower at 6,940, Germany's DAX is set to slide by around 122 points to 12,151 and France's CAC 40 is expected to drop around 61 points to 5,806.

A week after its stock market debut, luxury automaker Porsche's market cap raced past its former parent company Volkswagen Group's.

Some fund managers are already comparing the German firm to Tesla, the largest electric carmaker in the world, saying Porsche's electrification plan for its hot-selling Macan EV is expected to be an instant success.

Compared to its parent company VW, which makes nearly 10 million cars annually, Porsche manufactures just over 300,000 cars but accounts for a quarter of the profits at Volkswagen.

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— Ganesh Rao