LONDON, April 18- European indexes pared gains to end steady on Thursday after more weak corporate and economic data in the United States and Europe heightened fears over the growth outlook. Banks were the worst-hit sector, down 1.1 percent, with French bank Societe Generale among the top fallers, down 3.4 percent.
*UnitedHealth profit falls, shares drop. *Nokia drops in premarket after earnings. "It just seems like a rudderless ship right now that we've got really two offsetting factors- one clearly slowing, most certainly globally," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.
*Nokia drops in premarket after earnings. *Earnings are expected from 28 companies in the benchmark S&P index on Thursday, including Dow components Verizon Communications, Microsoft Corp and IBM.
LONDON, April 18- European shares edged higher on Thursday, with some investors seeing value after the market's worst four-day fall in nine months, although a crop of weak earnings and global growth concerns kept a lid on gains.
HELSINKI, April 18- Analysts' reactions to Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia's Q1 results. "They are on a right track and we can see a much better year for Nokia smartphones. "I think when Nokia gets to over 10 million of Windows phone 8... volume that will keep Nokia in the game."
HELSINKI, April 18- Nokia's Chief Executive Stephen Elop said tougher competition was the main reason behind the fall in sales of regular mobile phones.
HELSINKI, April 18- A big fall in sales of Nokia's basic phones overshadowed a stronger performance from its Lumia smartphones in the first quarter, and it said it expected operating margins to deteriorate, sending its shares down 11 percent.
HELSINKI, April 18- Analysts' reaction to Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia's Q1 results. MIKAEL RAUTANEN, ANALYST AT INDERES EQUITY RESEARCH. "The group result was a bit better than expected, but the outlook for the second quarter was more important this time, and that was a bit of a disappointment.
HELSINKI, April 18- Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia trimmed its losses in the first quarter, thanks to stronger Lumia smartphone sales. Nokia, which has fallen behind Samsung and Apple in the smartphone race, said it sold 5.6 million units of Lumia handsets in the first quarter, up from 4.4 million in the previous quarter.
*Sodexo, Nokia fall after earnings lag. *Vodafone boosted by Verizon stake talk. That followed forecast-lagging earnings from European firms including Sodexo and Nokia, down 9.6 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
HELSINKI, April 17- Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is expected to have trimmed its losses in the first quarter, thanks to rising Lumia smartphone sales and a turnaround at its equipment venture Nokia Siemens Networks.
Authorities are investigating whether the local units of General Motors Co., Suzuki Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co, Ford Motor Co and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz sold cars at a loss, thereby paying lower excise duty. Mercedes-Benz and the Indian subsidiaries of Honda and Suzuki declined to comment.
HELSINKI, April 15- Nokia's push to expand sales of its Lumia smartphones in new markets such as China should help shrink an overall revenue decline and reduce its first-quarter loss, easing some of the pressure on CEO Stephen Elop.