European shares end marginally lower

PARIS: European shares ended lower on Thursday as a continued selloff of chip stocks kept a lid on gains brought on by some positive corporate updates, while investors assessed the European Central Bank’s latest verdict to keep lending rates steady.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 closed 0.2% lower, extending losses to a fourth straight session.

The ECB kept interest rates unchanged as expected but said September’s meeting was “wide open” as it downgraded its view of the euro zone’s economic prospects and predicted that inflation would keep on falling.

“What (ECB President) Christine Lagarde is trying to do is she’s trying to buy a bit of time ... the labour market still remains quite strong and that is allowing the ECB to take that time,” Aneeka Gupta, director, macroeconomic research at WisdomTree said.

“Instead of giving that firm forward guidance for September, she continues to remain quite data dependent, primarily to allow her to keep all her options open.” Yields on government bonds across the continent eased, while the euro fell 0.2% against the dollar.

The tech index extended declines to a fourth session, falling 1.8% with chip stocks like ASML, ASM International and BE Semiconductor amongst the laggards.

Chip stocks around the world came under pressure on Wednesday following a report that the US has told its allies it is considering using the most severe trade restrictions available in its chip crackdown on China.

On the bright side, autos jumped 1.2% with Volvo Cars accelerating 11% after the Swedish automotive producer’s second-quarter adjusted EBIT beat expectations.

EssilorLuxottica gained 1.5% after a news report said Facebook-parent Meta is exploring a stake in the Ray-Ban maker.

Swedish truckmaker AB Volvo jumped 5.9% after posting a bigger than expected rise in second-quarter operating profit.

Publicis added 3% as the French advertising group upgraded its organic growth guidance after beating expectations for the second quarter.

Swedish medical equipment maker Getinge advanced 10.7% after beating second-quarter earnings forecasts, while Swedish property platform operator Hemnet added 13.5% after beating estimates on second quarter results.