STOXX 600 slips as Barclays, Hermes disappoint; oil climbs

Oct 22 (Reuters) The European STOXX 600 dropped on Thursday, nearly giving back all of the prior ​session s gains as investors weighed ‌a heavy slate of earnings reports, while higher oil prices further dampened risk appetite. The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined 0.84% to ‌639.05 ​points by 0712 ⁠GMT, after gaining over ⁠0.9% on Wednesday. Investors are turning to earnings to position themselves against the backdrop of political uncertainty and ​protests in France. Kicking off European bank earnings, Barclays fell 2.5% after reporting ⁠third-quarter profit before tax ⁠of £2.3 billion ($3.08 billion), missing company-compiled ​estimates of £2.4 billion. The banking index fell ​the most at 2.1%. Hermes fell 6.7% after ‌the Birkin bag maker posted slightly weaker third-quarter revenue than analysts expected. Nestle added 2.3% after reporting better-than-expected organic ⁠sales growth for the third quarter. Adding another layer of caution on Thursday, oil prices climbed ⁠over ‌2% af