European shares edged lower on Thursday, as strong earnings from Sweden's Ericsson were offset by fading optimism over the Brexit deal amid investor worries about its support in the British parliament.[BENGALURU] European shares edged lower on Thursday, as strong earnings from Sweden's Ericsson were offset by fading optimism over the Brexit deal amid investor worries about its support in the British parliament.
The FTSE midcap index closed up just 0.16 per cent, while Irish stocks dropped 0.9 per cent amid doubts over whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be able to win the British parliament's approval for any deal."Unfortunately, it is too early. I wouldn't be taking any direction at this point. It doesn't make sense to be taking steps either way on sterling at this point," said Michael Bell, Global Market Strategist at JP Morgan.
Fears of a slide into recession continue to dog Europe and not all earnings were upbeat, with Swiss banking software maker Temenos tumbling more than 15 per cent, its worst day in more than five years, after traders said third-quarter core profits missed expectations. "But there's a lot of demand to get into the 5G theme, and Ericsson's probably the biggest, most liquid name in Europe to play that theme."