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 .STOXX 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 BARC.L 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 .SX7E fell the most at 2.1%.

Hermes HRMS.PA fell 6.7% after the Birkin bag maker posted slightly weaker third-quarter revenue than analysts expected.

Nestle NESN.S 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% after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked broader escalation concerns and disruption of supplies.

Energy-dependent Europe has been hit by soaring energy costs, which has fed price pressures and weighed on the broader stock index.