[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses softer, chip names firmer ahead of NVDA earnings

European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.1%) start Wednesday’s trade on the back foot, despite a lack of drivers, with sentiment seemingly lifted by the ongoing energy moderation this morning. On the trade front, the EU finalised the text of its US trade deal, in which the bloc would remove levies on US industrial goods in exchange for a 15% tariff ceiling on EU exports. Next steps are for the Parliament and EU countries to vote to ratify the text. The AEX (+0.3%) hovers around the U/C mark, with chip majors ASML (+2.8%) and BESI (+2.0%) supporting the index, while the FTSE 100 (-0.1%) sees little support following the cooler-than-expected UK inflation print.
Sectors trade mixed. Basic Resources tops the sector pile as it manages to claw back some of Tuesday’s losses. Energy and Technology round out the top three sectors. To the downside, Media, Retail and Food, Beverages & Tobacco underperforms. UK supermarkets (Tesco -1.6%, Sainsburys -1.4%) have came under pressure after reports by the FT stated that the UK Treasury is pushing large supermarkets to introduce voluntary price caps on key groceries in return for lifting some regulations.
Key movers include: Euronext (+4.9%), beat Q1 adj. EBITDA expectations; M&S (+1.9%), guided resumption to profit growth; Lanxess (-3.6%), downgraded to underperform at Jefferies; Babcock (+1.6%), upgraded to Buy at Peel Hunt.
US equity futures are broadly firmer ahead of Nvidia’s (+1.5% pre-market) earnings after-hours. In terms of expectations for this quarter, adjusted EPS is seen at 1.78 and revenue at USD 78.98bln, while NVDA guided Q1 revenue to between USD 76.44-79.56bln. Note, the space is also attentive to updates from Samsung Electronics, with mediation occurring this morning ahead of imminent strike action.