European stocks fall with investors monitoring earnings, new data; UniCredit up 5%

• Earnings continued to take center stage in Europe with BNP Paribas, Renault, Air France-KLM and IAG among the big names reporting Friday.
• On the data front, initial flash estimates for euro zone harmonized inflation in July are due at 10 a.m. London time, along with second-quarter preliminary GDP estimates.

LONDON — European stocks retreated Friday after closing the previous session at all-time highs, as investors reacted to another deluge of corporate earnings and economic data.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was lower by roughly 0.7% in early deals, with mining stocks shedding 2.3% to lead losses as all sectors and major bourses slid into negative territory.

Shares in Asia-Pacific declined again on Friday, heading for their worst month since March 2020, as volatile trading continued for Chinese tech stocks and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled.

Stateside, stock futures are pointing to a lower open on Wall Street, with futures contracts on the Nasdaq 100 falling sharply after e-commerce behemoth Amazon's first earnings miss for three years.

Earnings in focus

Back in Europe, earnings continued to take center stage with BNP Paribas, Renault, Air France-KLM and IAG among the big names reporting Friday.

BNP Paribas reported a 26% annual rise in net profit for the second quarter to 2.9 billion euros ($3.44 billion), exceeding market expectations on the back of a rebound in business activity. The French lender's shares hovered fractionally below the flatline in early trade.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Hedge fund managers love these stocks, and they are trouncing the market

Singapore's largest lender picks 5 stocks that play off Evergrande's debt crisis

HSBC says Southeast Asia should be on investors' radar screen. Here are 11 stocks to buy

Renault posted a quarterly net profit of 354 million euros for the first half of the year, up from a substantial loss of nearly 7.3 billion euros for the same period last year as the pandemic shut down production across the industry. The French automaker forecast a full-year profit in 2021 despite the challenges caused by the global semiconductor shortage. Renault stock gained 1.3%.

L'Oréal on Thursday reported an acceleration in second-quarter sales growth in part due to a surge in U.S. makeup sales as lockdowns eased. Shares slipped 0.3% on Friday morning.

Italy's UniCredit gained 5% to lead the Stoxx 600 after a strong second-quarter profit beat, while British quality assurance company Intertek dropped more than 8% to the bottom of the index after its first-half earnings report.

On the data front, initial flash estimates for euro zone harmonized inflation in July are due at 10 a.m. London time, along with second-quarter preliminary GDP estimates.

German annual consumer price inflation spiked to 3.1% in July, its highest since August 2008, prompting a leading services sector trade union to call for immediate and substantial wage increases.

Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.

Source: Read Full Article