The Stoxx 600 benchmark index was down 0.57% in early deals, with most markets lower bar the UK’s FTSE 100, which gained 0.19% driven by upbeat earnings at Shell (LON:RDSa).
Meta shares plunged by a fifth in after-hours trading after the company forecast a weak holiday quarter and significantly more costs next year.
In regional equity news, shares in troubled bank Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) tumbled 8% as the Swiss lender unveiled a $4bn cash call and plans to axe 9,000 jobs as part of a major overhaul to rectify scandals and mismanagement that have plagued it in recent years.
Shell gained as it announced a $4bn share buyback and posted better-than-expected third-quarter profits.
Adjusted earnings rose to $9.5bn from $4.1bn in the third quarter a year earlier, but were down from the record $11.5bn posted in the second quarter of the year. Analysts had been expecting net earnings of $9bn.
Shares in Danske Bank 13% as investors cheered news that the institution would pay around $2bn in fines to resolve a money-laundering scandal.
It hopes to reach agreement with the US Department of Justice, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Danish special crime unit by the end of the year after a probe into suspicious cash that passed through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.
Norwegian engineering firm Sweco slumped, despite reporting a rise in third-quarter core earnings.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com