Publications
Partners
Milan - European shares dipped on Friday, weighed down by L'Oreal and BBVA, but remained on track for their biggest monthly gain since mid-2009 with traders banking on more monetary stimulus for the region.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.2% while the eurozone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index retreated 0.3%.
Cosmetics group L'Oreal was among the worst performers, dropping 5% after its third-quarter figures missed market forecasts.
Spanish bank BBVA also fell 4.3% after it reported a loss that was worse than feared.
Nevertheless, in spite of Friday's decline the FTSEurofirst remains up by around 8% in October.
The market has recovered this month thanks to signs from the European Central Bank (ECB) of further economic stimulus measures to bolster trade and business in the region.
"There are a lot of bargains out there and I expect the market to stabilise and gradually improve as we approach the end of the year," said Massimo Baggiani, head of international equity at asset manager Symphonia.
Carmaker Renault rose 5.5% after third-quarter revenue increased 9.4%, lifted by growing business with partners Nissan and Daimler, as well as sales of its own new models.
Planemaker Airbus climbed 5.2% after it announced a 20% jump in production of its most popular jet and dismissed concern about the health of the jet market as it reported better than expected results.
Telecom Italia also rose sharply for a second day after the founder of Iliad raised a stake in the Italian group to 15%.
According to data from Thomson Reuters StarMine, 52% of companies in the European STOXX 600 index have beaten or met expectations with their results so far this quarter, although earnings have fallen from a year ago.
