Europe Stocks Steady as Deutsche Bank Beats, Fed Decision Nears

European stocks opened steady on Wednesday as investors weighed a mixed set of bank earnings against an oil price above 110 dollars and a Federal Reserve decision due later in the day. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little changed after a two session rebound. The Eurostoxx index eased 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX eased 0.1 percent and France's CAC 40 eased 0.1 percent in early trade.

London lagged. The FTSE 100 opened 0.35 percent lower, down 37 points, with GlaxoSmithKline down 3.73 percent and Unilever down 3.11 percent among the biggest fallers. Standard Chartered rose 4.41 percent and led the index. Spain was the clear laggard in the region. The IBEX fell 1.1 percent as Banco Santander shares came under pressure again.

Deutsche Bank beats, Symrise slides

Deutsche Bank gave Frankfurt its main support. Germany's largest lender posted third quarter net profit of 1.588 billion euros, up 2 percent from 1.564 billion euros a year earlier and ahead of the analyst forecast of 1.444 billion euros. Revenue rose 4 percent to 8.3 billion euros. Retail and corporate banking carried the quarter. Private bank revenue rose 8 percent and corporate bank revenue rose 9 percent, which offset a 2 percent fall in investment bank revenue and a 3 percent fall in fixed income and currency trading revenue. The bank lifted its full year outlook and now expects group revenue of more than 33 billion euros. Its shares were indicated higher at the open and rose more than 3 percent in early trade in Frankfurt.

Symrise moved the other way. The flavour and fragrance maker fell nearly 10 percent and was the DAX's worst performer after its update beat revenue forecasts but fell short on profit. German consumer morale also weakened. The GfK consumer climate indicator fell to minus 30.8 heading into November.

Oil and yields keep pressure on

Brent crude held above 110 dollars a barrel in early trade, keeping energy costs and inflation at the front of the market's mind. Bond yields stayed high. The US 10 year yield rose 3 basis points to 5.03 percent, the UK 10 year yield was just under 5.35 percent and Germany's 10 year yield rose 3 basis points to 3.38 percent. High borrowing costs are the backdrop for three central bank decisions in two days. The Fed decides on Wednesday, the European Central Bank on Thursday and the Bank of Japan this week, and all three are widely expected to hold rates steady while markets watch for signals on December.

US futures point to chips

US stock futures were mixed before the open. At 4:53 a.m. Eastern, Dow futures were down 88 points, or 0.17 percent, S and P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.41 percent. Chip stocks led in premarket trade after SK Hynix reported a more than sevenfold jump in quarterly profit in Seoul. Micron rose 4 percent, SK Hynix's US listed shares jumped 7.8 percent, Nvidia added 0.8 percent and AMD climbed 1.5 percent. Alphabet rose 1.2 percent.

The Fed announces at 2 p.m. Eastern and is expected to hold the federal funds rate at 3.75 to 4.00 percent. Microsoft and Alphabet report after the US close, and investors will read their cloud growth and AI spending plans as the next test of the AI trade. A hawkish signal on December, or a weak set of tech numbers, would change a calm open fast.