European markets slightly lower amid earnings; Nokia shares tank 10% - CNBC

European stocks were lower Thursday morning, as market participants monitored another deluge of corporate earnings.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 0.3% during early morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory.

Market focus is largely attuned to corporate results, as investors reacted to another flurry of earnings reports.

Europe's banking index was among those to lead the losses shortly after the opening bell, down around 0.8% amid earnings news. Swedbank was the worst performer, with shares down around 3% after it admitted to previous shortcomings in tackling money laundering.

Barclays first-quarter profit fell 10% over the first three months of the year, amid challenging market conditions and lingering concerns over Brexit. Shares of the U.K.-based bank slipped over 1%.

UBS reported a $1.14 billion net profit for the first three months of the year as improving market conditions at the end of the quarter helped to soften a hit to trading revenues and client activity. The 27% drop in earnings for Switzerland's largest bank still beat analysts' expectations. Shares were trading slightly higher at around 8:30 a.m. London time.

Meanwhile, Nokia reported a surprise quarterly loss on Thursday, citing tough competition in its core networks business. Shares of the Finnish telecom network equipment maker tumbled more than 10% on the news.

Away from corporate results, the proposed merger between Sainsbury and Asda was blocked by the U.K.'s competition watchdog on Thursday. The Competition and Markets Authority said the merger would raise prices for consumers and lead to longer checkout queues. Shares of Sainsbury were down 6%.

On the data front, Spain's unemployment rate edged closer to 15% over the first three months of 2019. The official figures continue to underline a weak link in the economy days before a hotly contested election.

The rate rose to 14.7% in the three-month period to March, up from 14.45% in the final three months of 2018.

Elsewhere, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to meet with European leaders at the EU-Japan Summit in Brussels.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/25/europe-markets-barclays-ubs-and-bayer-corporate-results-in-focus.html

2019-04-25 07:43:09Z
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