European markets close lower as investors await U.S. midterm results

Commerzbank reported its net profit dropped by 52% in the third quarter – an outcome which was better than expected.

Shares of Commerzbank had dropped by 8.2% by mid-afternoon on the news that 2024 costs would be higher than expected.

Germany's second-biggest bank also maintained its full-year profit outlook, despite the country tackling soaring inflation and economic slowdown.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

U.S. stocks sunk in early deals Wednesday as the outcome of the midterm elections remained unclear.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 0.9% lower while the S&P 500 was down 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite also traded down 0.9%.

— Karen Gilchrist

Quarterly earnings remain a key driver of individual share price movement in Europe.

Shares of German drug company Evotec fell more than 8% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 by early afternoon following its results.

At the top of the index, shares of Vantage Towers jumped more than 11% after Vodafone announced that it would sell a slice of its majority stake in the wireless tower business to private equity firms GDP and KKR.

- Elliot Smith

Adidas on Wednesday cut its full-year guidance on the back of the German sportswear giant's termination of its partnership with Kanye West's Yeezy brand.

The company ended its relationship with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on Oct. 25 after the musician launched a series of offensive and antisemitic tirades on social media and in interviews.

Adidas now projects a net income from continuing operations of around 250 million euros ($251.56 million), down from a target of around 500 million euros laid out on Oct. 20. 

Adidas shares rose 3.5% by early afternoon trade.

Read the full story here.

- Elliot Smith

Nick Macpherson, former permanent secretary to the Treasury, says the U.K.'s upcoming Nov. 17 fiscal announcement will show global investors that the British economy is stable and that "the grown ups are back in charge." He adds that a 50-50 split of tax rises and spending cuts appears likely.

Matteo Andreetto, head of the SPDR ETF business for EMEA at SSGA, discusses the current focus for global markets.

Quarterly earnings remain a key driver of individual share price movement in Europe.

Shares of German drug company Evotec plunged more than 11% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 after its results.

At the top of the index, Smiths Group shares climbed 5% after the British engineering firm posted a 13% rise in quarterly organic revenue.

- Elliot Smith

Control of the House of Representatives will not be decided on election night, according to NBC News.

Republicans only need to gain 5 seats to take the House and were considered heavy favorites entering the day, but the red wave expected by some investors has failed to materialize. Democrats appear to have won some surprise victories in Ohio and North Carolina.

The NBC News election model currently estimates that the Republicans will end up with a three-seat advantage in the House, but that projection has a large margin of error.

If Democrats continue to hold their ground, control of the House could remain uncertain for days or even weeks. There are several competitive House races in California, a state that often takes a long time to count votes.

— Jesse Pound

Copper is having a good month, with both prices and mining stocks trading well in the green.

Against this backdrop, CNBC Pro screened the Global X Copper Miners ETF on FactSet for stocks that analysts expect to outperform.

Two names stand out as having target price upside of more than 200% and a buy rating from all of the analysts covering them, according to FactSet data.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Guggenheim Partners' global CIO Scott Minerd said on CNBC's "Business on the Ballot" that Republican gains in Congress could help inflation ease in the coming years.

"Divided government is a great outcome. ... Divided government is going to mean very little movement on the fiscal side, which means we aren't going to get tax cuts nor are we going to get much of an increase in government spending. That's good from a standpoint of allowing the economy to cool off more and may actually limit the amount of hiking that the Fed has to do," Minerd said.

Most key races remain too close to call, according to NBC News.

— Jesse Pound

Nomura, Japan's largest investment bank, is using AI to analyze earnings calls transcripts to predict whether a stock will outperform.

Its research on third-quarter results also shows the sectors with the most positive and negative sentiment.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

This sector is among the top performers on the S&P 500 this month. Three market pros weigh in on their favorite names in the sector, including one that is loved by Warren Buffett.

Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Zavier Ong

History shows the stock market typically rises the year after midterm elections — even with a recession.

The year following midterms has historically been a strong one for the S&P 500, with the benchmark gaining 20.1% on average, according to Citigroup data going back to 1960.

Even when there's a recession the next year, returns are surprisingly robust, with the S&P 500 rising 24.4% on average during three instances in 1974, 1990 and 2006, Citi said. That's especially pertinent now, with many economists expecting an economic downturn in 2023 in the wake of the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to tame inflation.

— Yun Li

China's producer price index fell 1.3% in October on an annualized basis after rising 0.9% in September, beating estimates for a 1.5% contraction in a Reuters poll.

The nation's October PPI marks the first decline since December 2020, according to FactSet data.

China's consumer price index rose 2.1% in October compared to a year ago, easing after climbing 2.8% in September.

The onshore and offshore Chinese yuan hovered around 7.2500 levels shortly after the economic data release.

Read the full story here.

— Evelyn Cheng, Jihye Lee

European markets are expected to open higher Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 32 points higher at 8,365, Germany's DAX up 25 points at 18,510, France's CAC 7 points higher at 8,143 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 59 points at 33,908, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Ferrovial, Telefonica, EDP, Enel, Pirelli and Salvatore Ferragamo.

— Holly Ellyatt