Europe midday: Shares in muted mood on quiet Halloween trade
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Friday 31 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - European shares fell on a quiet Halloween Friday as investors took a breather ahead of the weekend and assessed the European Central Banks's decision to keep rates on hold.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.40% at 572.6 by 1216 GMT with all major bourses in the red.
European interest rates were kept on hold at 2% on Thursday, in line with expectations and the third such consecutive move. Eurozone inflation fell to 2.1% from 2.2%, according to official data released on Friday.
"Markets are on the back foot in early trade, with the FTSE 100 leading the declines as we close out a week that has seen major volatility from a plethora of key announcements," said Marketscope analyst Joshua Mahony.
"Coming off the back of yesterday's ECB rate pause, this morning saw the latest inflation release dominate as core CPI rose unexpectedly to 2.4%. Coming off the back of comments from ECB member Martin Kocher that he sees inflation around 2% for the next two-years, todays core rise shouldn't provide much concern for those worried about an inflationary resurgence in the eurozone."
In regional economic news, German retail sales rose 0.2% in September compared with the prior month, federal statistics office Destatis said on Friday.
The year-on-year figure was unchanged, it added.
Food retail sales rose 0.3% month-on-month, while non-food sales were down 0.6%. Internet and mail-order trade increased 0.4% compared with August and increased 3.7% compared to September 2024.
In equity news, shares in industrial lubricants maker Fuchs surged as it beat third-quarter earnings estimates.
Cosmetics company Puig was in the pink after sold quarterly earnings posted on Thursday.
Scor fell as the weak margins offset a profit beat by the French insurer.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN