European stocks weaken as Chinese policy worries for rising profits by Reuters

(Reuters) – European equities retreated Wednesday after their biggest eight-month highs, while China's concern over the pending policy easing measures overturned the expected positive results of the region Swiss credit (SIX 🙂 and SAP.

The pan-regional index was down 0.1% at 07:32 GMT. The benchmark has recorded gains over the last eight consecutive sessions, with a tendency to recover after a lower opening.

Asian equities were also weak despite record earnings gains, as investors feared that Beijing would slow down the pace of easing its economic policies for the world's second-largest economy. [MKTS/GLOB]

Germany ahead of the country's Ifo business climate data, expected at 08:00 GMT, while all other major regional stock markets were in the red.

Motor stocks fell by 1%, led by Renault (PA 🙂 after its Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co reduced its annual earnings forecast to its lowest level in nearly a decade because of weakness in the United States.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that EU tariffs imposed on motorcycle manufacturer Harley Davidson Inc. were "unfair" and promised to reciprocate, but gave no further details.

Online gaming company Kindred Group plc was found at the bottom of STOXX 600 after first-quarter profits were significantly affected by a new local license in Sweden.

The oil and gas sector retreated from a 2% jump in the previous session due to higher crude prices.

After launching the assessment of the first quarter balance sheet of banks in the region, the Swiss Credit Suisse lender grew by 3% after recording a surprise profit and declared that it was cautiously optimistic about the second quarter after a difficult start to the year.

The results of Credit Suisse will be followed by those of UBS Group AG and Barclays (LON 🙂 Thursday and German Bank (DE 🙂 Friday.

The Wirecard payment company and the SAP business management software were some of the best performing STOXX 600s, which also allowed the German DAX to stay afloat.

Wirecard jumped 8% after a Bloomberg report announced that the Japanese company Softbank was seeking to invest about 900 million euros ($ 1 billion) to acquire a minority stake in the company.

SAP climbed 6%, driving the technology sector up 1.9% as the company set ambitious new medium-term goals to increase profit margins after operating losses in the first quarter resulting mainly from a restructuring charge.

Healthcare stocks benefited from gains from Novartis, with the Swiss drug maker raising its guidance for 2019 after a first-quarter profit and a slump in sales.

The Swedish truck manufacturer, AB Volvo, advanced after reporting a better than expected first quarter operating profit, thanks to higher prices and slacker supply chain constraints.