STOXX 600 off 1, at a twoweek low
Nestle drops on missing 9mth sales estimates
Renault slides on Q3 revenue miss
France39;s CAC 40 index slumps to 7month low
Nokia dips on weak Q3 sales

Oct 19 Reuters European shares tumbled on Thursday as a raft of dismal corporate earnings, including from packaged food giant Nestle, worsened an already riskaverse mood, driven by jitters around the Middle East war and uncertainty over interest rates.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 fell 1 to hit nearly a twoweek low by 0839 GMT, in a broadbased selloff, led by automakers and ratesensitive real estate firms.

Geopolitical tensions continued to mount with antiIsrael protests flaring across the Middle East, while U.S. Treasury yields jumped to multiyear highs ahead of commentary by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due at 1600 GMT.

European stocks have seen steep declines this week, hit by Middle East tensions and interest rate worries following robust U.S. economic data and mixed earnings reports.

A mix of inflation worries plus U.S. resilience is clearly the main driver why markets have repriced again the odds of another rate hike by the Fed later this year, said Thomas Hempell, Head of Macro Market Research at Generali Investments.

There39;s uncertainties about the behaviour of the Fed, and clearly that overlaps with the Middle East tensions.

Shares of Nestle dropped 2.4 after the Swiss consumer giant posted lowerthanexpected ninemonth sales growth as higher product prices made…