European Equities Mostly Higher in Wednesday Trading; Barclays Reportedly Seeks Default Protection for Over $10 Billion of AI Infrastructure Debt

01:04 PM EDT, 10/28/2026 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed mostly higher in Wednesday trading with the Stoxx 600 up 0.1%, Germany's DAX adding 0.4%, the FTSE 100 increasing 0.1%, France's CAC 40 flat, and the Swiss Market Index decreasing 0.1%. In economic news, Germany's consumer climate index, which reflects consumer expectations for November, declined to negative 30.8 points from negative 30.6 in the previous month, GfK reported. In corporate news, Barclays has been assessing interest among insurers in recent weeks as it looks to buy default protection on over $10 billion of debt to finance AI infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. The talks are exploratory and no final decisions have been made on the timing and size of any deals, the people reportedly said. Barclays shares were up 1.6% in London. TPG is negotiating a potential acquisition of UK-based Ark Data Centres from Elliott Management at a valuation of roughly $5 billion, the Financial Times reported. The negotiations are ongoing, but a deal is not guaranteed, according to the report. Eli Lilly said Wednesday that data from a phase 3 head-to-head trial showed that its investigational molecule retatrutide delivered greater A1C reduction and "substantially more" weight loss than Novo Nordisk's injectable Ozempic 2mg in adults with type 2 diabetes at 80 weeks. Lilly said the trial met the primary and all key secondary endpoints, with both 9 mg and 12 mg doses of retatrutide reducing A1C by an average of 2.2% compared with 1.8% with Ozempic 2 mg at 80 weeks. Novo shares fell 1.7% in Copenhagen. Deutsche Bank reported Q3 earnings Wednesday of 0.94 euros ($1.04) per diluted share, up from 0.89 euros a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 0.81 euros. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30, was 8.34 billion euros, up from 8.04 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 8.22 billion euros. Deutsche shares rose 3.9% in Frankfurt. Banco Santander reported Q3 underlying earnings Wednesday of 0.26 euro ($0.29) per diluted share. Two analysts polled by FactSet expected 0.23 euro. Total income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 15.89 billion euros. Analysts expected 16.18 billion euros. Santander shares fell past 5% in Madrid. UBS reported Q3 earnings Wednesday of $0.85 per diluted share, up from $0.76 a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $0.91. Underlying revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $13.39 billion, compared with $12.2 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected $13.07 billion. UBS shares were down 0.6% in Switzerland. Stellantis reported Q3 adjusted loss Wednesday of 0.01 euro ($0.011) per diluted share, compared with a loss of 0.04 euro a year earlier. Three analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 0.09 euro. Net revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 37.61 billion euros, up from 37.21 billion euros a year earlier. Analysts expected 36.15 billion euros. Stellantis shares jumped past 15% in Milan. Unilever reported Q3 turnover Wednesday of 13.27 billion euros ($14.76 billion), compared with 12.44 billion euros a year earlier. Underlying sales for the quarter grew 5.2%. The company continues to expect 2026 underlying sales growth to be within its multiyear outlook range of 4% to 6%. Unilever now expects at least 3% underlying volume growth for the full year and underlying sales growth of around 5% in H2, it said. Unilever shares shed 2.1% in London. TotalEnergies has acquired a 25% working interest in 26 Chevron-operated exploration blocks in the US, expanding a partnership between the two energy companies, the French energy major said Wednesday. The leases comprise 24 blocks in the Green Canyon area and two in Walker Ridge, located 150 to 250 kilometers offshore, the company said. TotalEnergies shares rose 0.9% in Paris. Rio Tinto's board has proposed raising Chief Executive Simon Trott's target remuneration package by 56% to 9.8 million pounds ($13.06 million), Reuters reported, citing four people familiar with the matter and documents it has seen. The board has expanded a benchmarking group it uses to calculate executive compensation, the news outlet said, citing an investor presentation. The expanded framework will require shareholder approval at Rio's annual meeting next year, the news report said. Rio shares were down 0.1% in London.