Europe open: Stocks follow Wall St into the red
European stocks fell in early trade, tracking losses in the US, where Apple shares slid after billionaire activist Carl Icahn said he had sold his entire stake in the technology company.
At 0900 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index and Germanys’ DAX were both off 1%, while France’s CAC 40 was down 1.3%.
At the same time, oil prices edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.6% to $46.29 a barrel and Brent crude 0.4% higher at $48.33.
Investors waded through a deluge of corporate news.
AstraZeneca nudged lower after reporting a drop in first-quarter earnings but a rise in revenue as core research and development costs increased, reflecting recent acquisitions.
Sticking with pharmaceuticals, Sanofi was also lower despite saying first-quarter sales rose and maintaining its full-year guidance, while peer Novo Nordisk nudged down after cutting its 2016 guidance.
Royal Bank of Scotland was under the cosh after it said first-quarter losses more than doubled to £968m after it paid out a £1.2bn dividend to the UK government.
Education published Pearson slipped after posting a decline in first-quarter sales.
British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines flew lower. Although the company reported a jump in first-quarter pre-tax profit, it said demand for flights had been hit by the Brussels terror attacks and the upcoming EU referendum.
Shares in Spanish phone company Telefonica were in the red after it said first-quarter profit slumped due to the impact of currency movements.
Swiss Re dropped despite posting better-than-expected first-quarter profits.
On the upside, Danske Bank gained ground after its first-quarter pre-tax profit came in ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Still to come on the data front, investors will eye Eurozone inflation data, the unemployment rate for the bloc and the preliminary first-quarter GDP release at 1000 BST.
“Eurozone Inflation expected to show improvement to breakeven in headline CPI but a slowing in Core. The GDP reading for the region is seen inching up in the quarter but slowing slightly over the year,” said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.
In the US, personal income and spending is at 1330 BST, Chicago PMI at 1445 BST and University of Michigan consumer sentiment at 1500 BST.