European stocks close lower; autos drop as investors digest earnings; Nokia down 8%

Carl Hazeley, lead analyst at Finimize, discusses the latest Tesla earnings, what they mean for the company and the wider market.

Finnish telecoms firm Nokia was down 8.7% in early afternoon trade after its first-quarter operating profit came in below expectations.

CEO Pekka Lundmark told CNBC that company had seen "great top line growth" of 9% and taken market share.

He said disappointment came from its technology licensing business, but that it was close to a significant deal with Samsung and has ongoing litigation with smartphone makers OPPO and Vivo.

"I believe when we get through this cycle we have all the possibilities to get to that 1.4-1.5 billion [euros] target range," for net sales, Lundmark said.

In its results, the company said it was seeing a slowdown in areas of customer spending.

Lundmark said there had been a slowdown in North America but strong growth in India, which accounted 15% of first-quarter sales versus 5% in 2022.

— Jenni Reid

Sue Trinh, co-head of global macro strategy at Manulife Investment Management, discusses the outlook for the banking sector, saying that there are few indicators for a widespread banking crisis.

David Roche, president of Independent Strategy, discusses how recent turmoil in the banking sector may feed through to tighter credit conditions in the real economy, and how investors should position.

Swedish power tool maker Husqvarna topped the Stoxx 600 index in morning trade, climbing 5.5% after it posted record first-quarter results.

Sartorius, the German supplier of lab equipment, saw the biggest decline, falling 9.6% after it missed first-quarter estimates.

However, it was autos that continued to dominate the bottom of the ranking, with Renault down 6.4%, Stellantis down 4.8%, Volvo Cars down 4.2% and Volkswagen down 3.2%. French auto supplier Faurecia dropped 4.7%.

Shares of British manufacturer Melrose Industries fluctuated as it completed a demerger and reverse stock split.

— Jenni Reid

European stocks slid lower Thursday morning, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.3% and most sectors posting declines.

Autos plunged 2.4% and mining shares fell 1.07%, though banks were a bright spot, up 0.75%.

Germany's DAX fell 0.54%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.26% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.12%.

— Jenni Reid

German producer prices declined 2.6% on a monthly basis, while annual inflation cooled from 15.8% to 7.5%.

It was the sixth consecutive monthly fall in prices.

Year-on-year prices remain elevated largely because of energy, the national statistics agency said.

— Jenni Reid

Investment bank UBS has identified global stocks to buy in what could be a year of "slowflation" — a combination of sluggish growth and sky-high inflation.

The Swiss bank's strategists said they expect weak global growth at 2.6% in 2023, compared to the 50-year average of 3.5%. They also said slower-than-expected progress was being made in bringing core inflation toward central bank targets.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Earnings season has kicked off on a positive note, with 10% of the broader index reporting better-than-expected earnings. Of the 53 companies in the S&P 500 reporting so far, 83% have beat Wall Street's expectations by 6%. Both of those rates are above average.

The broad-based index has seen a modest uptrend in the last few weeks, gaining 7% since it reached a bottom at the height of the banking crisis in mid-March.

— Pia Singh

Tech has been a bright spot in a volatile market this year.

"The leaders this year are definitely Apple and Microsoft," Louis Navellier, chairman at Navellier & Associates, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Wednesday. "They are now the highest weightings ever in the S&P 500."

But he argued that the "real leader" in the S&P 500 is another stock. He also gave three other stock picks with high expected earnings growth.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Morgan Stanley posted earnings per share of $1.70 for the first quarter, greater than the $1.62 estimate from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Overall revenue came in at $14.52 billion, above the $13.92 billion consensus estimate from Refinitiv as equities and fixed income trading units performed better than expected.

One growth area was wealth management, where revenue increased by 11% from a year ago.

The shares, which are outperforming most other banks this year, eased by 2% in early trading despite the positive results.

"The investments we have made in our wealth management business continue to bear fruit as we added a robust $110 billion in net new assets this quarter," said Chairman and CEO James Gorman in the earnings release. "Equity and fixed income revenues were strong, although investment banking activity continued to be constrained."

-John Melloy

European markets are expected to open higher Wednesday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 41 points lower at 8,470, Germany's DAX up 60 points at 18,783, France's CAC 22 points higher at 8,249 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 142 points at 34,945, according to data from IG.

Earnings are due from Allianz, EON, RWE, Commerzbank, Thyssenkrupp, TUI, Bilfinger, ABN Amro, Telecom Italia, Burberry and Ubisoft. The latest preliminary gross domestic product reading for the euro zone is also due.

— Holly Ellyatt