Daily market snapshot: FTSE falls after disappointing US earnings

European shares rose in early trading this morning, with banks adding most points to the FTSE Eurofirst 300 (up 1.0% at the time of writing); HSBC, Banco Santander and BNP Paribas gained between 1.2 and 2.3%.

Commodity stocks also started on a positive footing, supported by higher crude and metal prices. The FTSE 100, however, opened slightly down by 0.1%, affected by the disappointing third quarter results in the US at the close of last week. US stocks fell on Friday after a positive start to the week. Disappointing results were released by General Electric Co (down 4.2% on the day), which reported a 20% fall in revenue, and Bank of America Corp (off 4.6%), which posted a $1bn loss, demonstrating the road to recovery will be bumpy. The S&P 500 fell by 0.8%, while the Dow Jones fell 0.7%, and ...