European shares trade lower after weak earnings reports

European shares traded lower earlier on Thursday after underwhelming earnings reports dampened a U.S. Fed vow to continue rolling out stimulus plans in a bid to soften the economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pan-European STOXX lost 0.4% at 03:13 AM ET (0713 GMT), weighed down by banking stocks and automakers which fell by 1.5%.

Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group swung to a rare pretax loss in the first half of 2020, while Volkswagen reported a first-half operating loss and slashed its dividend.

Anheuser-Busch InBev rose by 9.4%, performing the best in the STOXX 600, after it claimed that it was encouraged by global beer sales recovery in June.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets and Wall Street saw gains overnight after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell vowed to “do what we can, and for as long as it takes” to boost an economy severely impacted by the pandemic.

Investors are now watching out for a slew of economic data for clues, such as Germany’s second-quarter GDP data, the Eurozone’s June unemployment numbers, and final consumer confidence data.