(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Thursday, as investors fretted over persistent inflation and aggressive central bank actions, while downbeat earnings from chip equipment firm BE Semiconductor and telecom company Nokia fuelled fears of an economic slowdown.
Nokia fell 4.1% after the Finnish telecom equipment maker’s quarterly operating profit missed analysts’ expectations. Its rival, Ericsson, also posted weaker-than-expected earnings.
BE Semiconductor fell 2.8% after it forecast a fall in fourth-quarter revenue, warning that U.S. export curbs to China added more uncertainty to the industry outlook.
The downbeat outlook sparked a selloff in the chip sector, with ASM International, ASML Holding and Aixtron falling between 0.8% and 2%.
The region-wide STOXX 600 index dropped 0.4%, extending declines to the second straight day, as a string of worrying inflation data fanned fears that central banks would need to stay aggressive and sapped the optimism after recent earnings reports.
Further pressuring stocks, Germany’s 10-year government bond yield rose to 2.43%, hitting its highest since August 2011.
However, in a bright spot, Finnish banking group Nordea beat profit estimates and Birkin bag maker Hermes saw sharp rise in sales growth with no signs of a slowdown. Nordea reversed early gains and was down marginally, while Hermes rose 4.0%.
Among other stocks, Swedish Match AB rose 2% after Philip Morris International raised its buyout offer for the nicotine products maker.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
