European stocks sink heading into weekend

European stock markets fell Friday afternoon as many investors cashed in gains after a bumper month for equities and digested uninspiring company results, dealers said.

So far this month, London has gained five percent, Paris added almost ten percent and Frankfurt leapt 11.5 percent in value, lifted by optimism despite China's economic slowdown.

All were slightly off in mid-afternoon trading at the end of a month which has seen markets charge ahead on expectations that a US interest rate hike would be delayed -- at least until the Federal Reserve hinted Wednesday at an increase in December, causing fresh jitters.

Traders also weighed news that eurozone inflation rose to zero percent and out of negative territory in October, as the European Central Bank mulls adding fresh stimulus.

"Markets have come off a bit, but nothing too dramatic," said analyst Markus Huber at London-based broker Peregrine & Black.

In London, the British capital's benchmark FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies was off 0.49 percent at 6,364.30 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.19 percent to 10,779.81 points and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.25 percent to 4,873.43.

"So far it appears that we are seeing some profit-taking towards the end of a very good month for stocks," said Huber.

"This is rather normal ... that money is being taken off the table," he told AFP, adding the cash would likely "flow back into stocks within the next few days of the new month."

Huber also noted that investors snapped up bargain stocks in October to capitalise on the "massive" summer sell-off that was rooted in worries over China's faltering economy.

- IAG flies into trouble -

On Friday, London's top faller was International Airlines Group, whose share price sank 3.93 percent to 574 pence as earnings guidance disappointed investors.

However, IAG also posted a third-quarter operating profit of 1.21 billion euros, beating analysts' forecasts of 1.19 billion euros.

"Despite beating third-quarter earnings expectations, IAG shares tanked," said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.

"The rise in full year earnings guidance was a bit conservative so it raises a question over the timing of introducing the dividend."

Royal Bank of Scotland meanwhile saw its share price slide 1.71 percent.

The state-rescued lender revealed that pre-tax profit before exceptional items and restructuring costs more than halved to £842 million. That missed expectations for a profit of £988 million.

In Paris, Airbus shares rose 4.39 percent to 63.17 euros after the European aircraft maker posted sharply higher profits, adding it will ramp up production of its best-selling A320 jet.

The biggest faller was L'Oreal, whose share price dived 4.86 percent to 165.55 euros, one day after the world's largest cosmetics company posted underwhelming third-quarter sales.

Wall Street marked time despite oil giant Chevron and beer titan AB Inbev beating earnings forecasts.

The Dow Jones Industrial index dipped 0.09 percent to 17,739.77 points in early trading.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged down 0.04 percent to 2,089.41 points while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was up by a whisker at 5,075.87.

Chevron gained 1.8 percent as core earnings per share came in above analyst forecasts despite an overall 63.6 percent plunge in earnings due to falling oil prices.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev, poised to take over rival SABMiller in a mega-merger, was up 2.2 percent as it said operating profit rose by 9.6 percent in the third quarter to $4.4 billion.

The European single currency meanwhile advanced to $1.1032, up from $1.0979 Thursday in New York.

The shared eurozone unit had plunged on Wednesday in the wake of the Fed news to $1.0897 -- a level last seen in early August.

Asian equities mostly fell in subdued deals on Friday after the Bank of Japan held off fresh stimulus despite shrinking growth in the world's number three economy.

Hong Kong finished 0.79 percent lower while Sydney, Seoul, Wellington and Taiwan all finished in the red. However, Tokyo stocks ended 0.78 percent higher.

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