Europe close: Stocks end on mixed note

(Sharecast News) - Stocks across Europe ended on a mixed note amid a pause in recent selling in government bonds on either side of the Atlantic. That was despite news overnight of the ouster of the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the first time that had occurred in the country's history.

"It's not much of a bounce in risk appetite, but traders will be glad of any temporary respite," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"But with the US yield curve continuing to un-invert recession fears are rising again. The drop in oil prices is another welcome development this afternoon, though there's a long way to go before fears of resurgent inflation can be put to bed."

The Stoxx 600 index was off by 0.14% to 440.08, alongside a gain of 0.1% to 15,099.92 for the German Dax.

But the remainder of Europe's main regional indices were all a tad lower.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Bund was down by three basis points at 2.924% and euro/dollar was ahead by 0.49% to 1.0518.

Brent crude oil futures were also lower, slipping 3.8% to $87.08 a barrel on the ICE.

Oil was on the back foot even as OPEC+ said that it would stick to its output cuts until year end.

In European economic data on Wednesday, service-sector purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) across the Eurozone showed improvement in September, with the majority beating market expectations.

Notably, PMIs in both Spain and Germany returned to positive territory (above the 50-point level), showing that service-sector activity actually increased last month. Services PMIs in France and Italy still remain under 50.

In company news, UK retail giant Tesco beat expectations with its interim results as it lifted its profit guidance for the full year, as it managed to take advantage of easing consumer price inflation at the till.