EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Slide As Bank Shares Suffer After SocGen Earnings

Apple shares rise in Frankfurt after earnings beat

European equity benchmarks ended lower Wednesday, as bank shares slumped after France's Société Générale SA posted a drop in profit and metal's related stocks declined after an update from Rio Tinto PLC.

The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.4% to 378.63, partly erasing a 0.6% gain from Tuesday.

Banking blues: SocGen shares (GLE.FR) were shoved down 4% after the France's third-largest bank by assets said second-quarter net profit dropped 28% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/societe-generale-net-profit-hit-by-legal-costs-2017-08-02) to 1.06 billion euros ($1.25 billion), hurt by litigation costs and persistently low interest rates.

Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) shares fell 6.1% after the London-listed, Asian-focused lender reported a quarterly profit in the first half, but failed to declare a dividend (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-chartered-dividends-remain-suspended-2017-08-02).

Other banking shares were also lower, with shares of Banco Santander SA (SAN) (SAN) down 1.1% and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.XE) (DBK.XE) 1.1% lower.

Overall, the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks Index fell 0.9% on Wednesday.

Commodities sag: The European basic resources group fell 1.8%, with pressure in part coming from Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) as its shares moved 2.8% lower. The iron-ore producer's first-half underlying earnings rose to $3.9 billion, below a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. Rio Tinto did say it will buy back a further $1 billion in shares (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rio-tinto-ups-buyback-plans-as-profit-jumps-2017-08-02) and that debt has been reduced.

Shares of Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) lost 1.2% and BHP Billiton (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) gave up 1.1%.

Other stock movers: On the upside, shares of William Hill PLC (WMH.LN) rallied 6.1%. The British bookmaker's profit rose in the first half (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/william-hill-profit-rises-sees-progress-in-2017-2017-08-02) and the company struck an optimistic tone about progress for the year.

Frankfurt-listed shares of Apple Inc. jumped 5.1%. The iPhone maker late Tuesday posted fiscal third-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street's targets.

See:Confusion reigns for investors ahead of Bank of England's 'Super Thursday' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/confusion-reigns-for-investors-ahead-of-bank-of-englands-super-thursday-2017-08-01)

Individual indexes: France's CAC 40 index ended 0.4% lower at 5,107.25, and Germany's DAX 30 lost 0.6% to 12,181.48.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.2% at 7,411.43, while Spain's IBEX 35 dropped 0.7% to 10,513.90.

The euro traded at $1.1868, up from $1.1802 late Tuesday in New York.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 02, 2017 12:16 ET (16:16 GMT)