(Corrects direction of move in headline)
Oct 22 (Reuters) - European shares inched lower on Tuesday
as investors sifted through a mixed bag of corporate earnings
and eyed latest developments on U.S.-China trade talks and
Britain's progress towards some form of orderly departure from
the European Union.
Germany's DAX .GDAXI and Switzerland's SSMI .SSMI both
bucked the trend, with the latter helped by a 1% gain for
drugmaker Novartis NOVN.S after it raised its 2019 targets and
reported better-than-expected revenue.
Another Swiss company, Apple supplier AMS AMS.S also
climbed 6% as demand from smartphone makers boosted operating
profit.
French specialty minerals company Imerys IMTP.PA slipped
6% after cutting its outlook for 2019, while Norway's Aker BP
AKERBP.OL moved marginally lower as it slashed its full-year
oil output target.
British household goods maker Reckitt Benckiser RB.L was
moored to the bottom of the pan-European STOXX index with a 5%
fall after it cut its full-year sales forecast for the second
time this year. The STOXX .STOXX was down just over 0.1% by 0728 GMT.
Shares of UBS UBSG.S led gains among banking stocks
.SX7P after Switzerland's biggest bank reported a smaller than
expected loss in quarterly profit.
Swedish defence firm Saab SAABb.ST rose 7% to top the
STOXX 600 after reporting third-quarter operating earnings well
ahead of market forecasts and affirming its view that operating
cashflow this year would improve versus 2018.