European stocks came under pressure on Tuesday, with chip makers heading south after Apple warned it will miss its quarterly revenue target due to coronavirus fallout, while shares of HSBC slid as it announced a profit slump and suspension of buybacks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.57% fell 0.5% to 429.64, a day after marking a fresh record close of 431.98, a gain of 0.3%. The German DAX 30 index DAX, -0.82% dropped 0.7%, while the French CAC 40 index PX1, -0.54% fell 0.5% and the FTSE 100 index UKX, -1.03% slipped 0.5%.
U.S. stock futures were under pressure, with S&P 500 futures ES00, -0.47% down 0.5%, while tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, -0.74% sliding around 0.9%. The Nikkei 225 NIK, -1.40% dropped over 1%, while Korea’s KOSPI 180721, -1.48% tumbled 1.4%.
In a warning that came while Wall Street was closed for the Presidents Day holiday, Apple AAPL, +0.02% said it was unlikely to meet its revenue target for the quarter ending in March, triggering a more than 3% drop in premarket trading of shares, and losses across global equities. Apple said production among its suppliers in China is ramping up slowly after an extended Lunar New Year break to stem the spread of the virus.
In the chipmaking space, shares of Dialog Semiconductor DLG, -5.05% and ASM International NV ASM, -4.99% slid around 5% each, while AMS AMS, -3.54% fell around 4%.
Meanwhile, an economic sentiment survey from the ZEW institute in Germany came in much weaker than expected. ZEW blamed “feared negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic in China on world trade.” China reported 1,886 new coronavirus infections and 98 deaths as of Tuesday. However, the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study Monday showing that 80% of those infected suffered only mild illnesses.
Banks were the biggest losing sector in Europe, led by shares of HSBC HSBC, -0.71% HSBA, -6.64% dropped over 5% after Europe’s biggest lender said it would cut 35,000 jobs and strip out $100 billion in assets in a move to scale back Europe and U.S. operations as 2019 profit slumped 53%. HSBC also said its dividend would be suspended for this year and 2021 due to the costs of its restructuring.
Italian stocks were bucking a weaker trend, with the FTSEMIB Italy index I945, +0.34% rising 0.1% thanks to a 26% rise in shares of Unione di Banche Italiane SpA. UBI Banca UBI, +22.69% received a surprise offer from larger peer Intesa Sanpaolo SpA on Monday night to buy the Italian lender. Intesa Sanpaolo ISP, +2.54% shares rose 1.4%.
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