Stock market: Europe in decline, eyes on the US mid-term elections

Stock markets in Europe open lower, in the wake of a wave of sales which, starting from US chip manufacturers, has spread to Asia and now to the Old Continent, while investors await the outcome of the 'mid-term' elections in the United States.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.5%, with Paris opening down by 0.6%, London by 0.5%, Frankfurt by 0.97 percent.

Asml Holding, the main European group in the chip production equipment sector, lost 2.6%, contributing the most to the decline of the pan-European index. Meanwhile, Brent oil futures retreated towards $107 a barrel, following a report from Reuters that the United States and Iran were still far from reaching an agreement to end the conflict.

As regards individual stocks, noteworthy is Royal Philips (+6.5%) with higher-than-expected profitability in the third quarter; Hugo Boss (-1.4%) fell after the fashion company revised its sales and profit forecasts downwards; Bayer on the rise (+5.9%) with the increase in profit estimates.