(Bloomberg) — European stocks were set for modest gains as traders await Nvidia Corp.’s results for cues on the growth momentum of artificial-intelligence related stocks. Asian equities traded within narrow ranges amid weak corporate earnings in China.
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Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1%, indicating a muted start for the shares in the region, while contracts for US stocks were little changed in Asian trading.
Chinese stocks in Hong Kong fell as much as 1.6%, while those in the mainland declined to their lowest since early February. Bottled water maker Nongfu Spring Co. shares plunged as much as 13% after posting the slowest half-year profit growth in four years, becoming the latest company to issue disappointing results.
“So far we are still seeing much more downgrades than upgrades” in Chinese earnings, Winnie Wu, a China equity strategist at Bank of America Corp., told Bloomberg TV. Internet companies are outperforming other sectors in beating earnings expectations, but materials, tech, builders, auto and other industries pose significant downside risks, she said.
Most major benchmarks in Asia were in the red, with South Korea and Hong Kong seeing losses. Two-year Treasury yields, which are more sensitive to interest-rate policy, fell three basis points.
Weak sentiment toward China reemerged following sluggish outlook guidance earlier this week from e-commerce firm PDD Holdings Inc. The drum beat of stuttering growth has continued through the commentary of other companies.
ANTA Sports Products Ltd. on Tuesday also lowered its full-year sales guidance for one of its core brands amid expectations that it would need to hand out more discounts to woo buyers in the country. Meanwhile, Australia’s Fortescue Ltd. reported full-year profit that missed analyst forecasts, partly due to a slowdown in iron demand from biggest customer China.
Cnooc Ltd., BYD Co. and Meituan are all set to report on Wednesday. Later in the US, investors will be looking for any clues on whether the artificial-intelligence euphoria has more room to run, with the…
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