German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, October 21, 2025. REUTERS/staff

By Sukriti Gupta

(Reuters) -European shares nudged lower on Wednesday, dragged by a flurry of lacklustre earnings from major firms including French cosmetics giant L'Oreal and Birkin bag maker Hermes.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.2% at 571.90 points, as of 0906 GMT. Other major regional indexes were mixed. Germany's DAX slipped 0.3%, France's CAC 40 lost 0.6%, while Spain's IBEX edged 0.3% higher.

UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. Data showed British inflation and a key underlying measure of price growth both unexpectedly held steady in September.

L'Oreal fell 6.3% after the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales and provided little reassurance it could outperform the market in the coming quarters.

Hermes fell 4.4% after its outlook of a slight improvement in key market China failed to excite investors. The European luxury sector declined 1.7%.

Mabrouk Chetouane, head of global markets strategy at Natixis Investment Managers, said the gloomy market opening could be attributed to earnings from luxury sector "clearly flagging the fact that the recovery in China is still struggling."

The technology index fell 0.6% after a weak update from Texas Instruments dragged European chip stocks lower. STMicroelectronics lost 3.2% and Infineon fell 2.8%.

The STOXX aerospace & defence index rose 1.2% after a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart was put on hold as Russia rejected an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

Hensoldt and Renk advanced 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively.

Energy stocks rose 0.7%, mining stocks gained 0.5%, and utilities added 0.6%.

Investors are also focusing on next week's monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

"The market is waiting for the next step ... there is a ton of information that will come and will probably support the equity market," Chetouane said, referring to the central bank meetings.

In other moves, shares of Adidas dropped 1.8% even as the German sportswear brand raised its annual operating profit outlook.

Novo Nordisk fell 3.3%, extending losses from a day earlier, after the Wegovy maker's top investor proposed a sweeping board overhaul.

ITV plunged 8.3% after the broadcaster's largest shareholder, Liberty Global, halved its stake to about 5%.

In a bright spot, Barclays rose 4.1% after the lender announced a surprise 500-million-pound ($671 million) share buyback plan and upgraded its performance target for the year.

Ipsen rose 5.8% after the French biopharma company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and upgraded its outlook.

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)