Yahoo Finance LIVE: FTSE and European markets in the red and US mixed as major banks report Q3 results
How major markets are performing on Friday
The FTSE 100 and markets across Europe were down as major indexes in the US lost momentum, while a mixed day of trade played out on Friday.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down by 0.3%, the Dow (^DJI) almost flat and Nasdaq (^IXIC) 0.8% in the red in morning trade as public companies reported third quarter results.
On the slate on Friday were banking giant JP Morgan (JPM), Blackrock (BLK), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
JP Morgan, which reported before the opening bell, saw profits jump by 35% off the back of a windfall from high interest rates. Its stock was around 2.8% by mid-morning in New York.
CEO Jamie Dimon said in a release that US consumers and businesses "generally remain healthy" but noted a number of economic risks, including the possibility that inflation remains elevated and interest rates continue to rise.
Blackrock was trading lower after reporting a 5% increase in revenue year-on-year. The company said its assets under management increased by $1.1trn year-on-year.
Citi and Wells Fargo both saw trading revenues rise.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's (MSFT) revised offer to buy gaming company Activision Blizzard (ATVI) was cleared by UK regulators.
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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been in a prolonged back and forth about the particularities of the deal, after it blocked the $69bn (£56.5bn) offer in April. It now says that the updated bid addressed its concerns.
As part of the compromise, Microsoft will give the rights to distribute Activision's games on consoles and PCs over the cloud to French video game publisher Ubisoft (UBI.PA).
The FTSE (^FTSE) was down 0.5% by the closing bell, while the DAX (^GDAXI) fell 1.4% and the CAC (^FCHI) lost 1.3%.
Despite clearing the deal, the CMA scolded Microsoft on how it had handled the affair.
"Businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA," the regulator's chief executive Sarah Cardell said.
"Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn't work," she added. "Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money."
Microsoft shares were slightly higher in premarket trade.
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Watch: Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard to be bought by Microsoft as UK regulator gives green light
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