European markets open lower. Cars decline as investors digest profits

European shares fell on Thursday morning, with the Stoxx 600 down 0.3% and most sectors posting declines.

Automotive prices fell 2.4% and mining stocks fell 1.07%, although banks were a bright spot, up 0.75%.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.54%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.26%, and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.12%.

Investment bank UBS has identified global stocks to buy in what could be a year of “slow inflation” – a combination of slow growth and high inflation.

Strategists at the Swiss bank said they expect weak global growth of 2.6% in 2023, compared to the 50-year average of 3.5%. They also said that slower-than-expected progress has been made in pushing core inflation toward the central bank’s targets.

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– Ganesh Rao

Earnings season started on a positive note, with 10% of the broader index posting better-than-expected earnings. Of the 53 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported so far, 83% beat Wall Street’s forecast of 6%. Both of these rates are above average.

The broad-based index has seen a modest upward trend in the past few weeks, gaining 7% since bottoming out at the height of the banking crisis in mid-March.

– Piya Singh

Technology has been a bright spot in a volatile market this year.

“The leaders this year are definitely Apple and Microsoft,” Louis Navellier, chairman of Navellier & Associates, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Wednesday. “They are now the all-time top weights in the S&P 500.”

But he argued that the “real leader” in the S&P 500 is another stock. He also gave three other stock picks with high expected earnings growth.

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– Wizen tan

Morgan Stanley reported earnings per share of $1.70 for the first quarter, better than the $1.62 estimate of analysts polled by Refinitiv. Total revenue came in at $14.52 billion, above the consensus estimate of $13.92 billion from Refinitiv as its equity trading and fixed income units performed better than expected.

One area of ​​growth has been wealth management, with revenue up 11% over last year.

The shares, which have outperformed most other banks this year, fell 2% in early trade despite the positive results.

“The investments we made in our wealth management business continue to pay off as we added $110 billion in net new assets during the quarter,” Chairman and CEO James Gorman said in the earnings release. “Equity and fixed income returns were strong, although investment banking continued to be constrained.”

-John Milloy

European markets are heading for a flat to lower open on Thursday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is expected to open 1 point lower at 7893, Germany’s DAX index 9 points lower at 15885, France’s CAC index up 2 points at 7553 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 14 points lower at 27406, according to data from IG.

Earnings are set to come from WHSmith, Rio Tinto, Dunelm, Renault, Publicis and Ferragamo. Data releases include preliminary consumer confidence figures for the Eurozone in April.

– Holly Ellytt