Corporate results:

  • ABB reports better-than-expected Q1 results.
  • BHP increases iron ore production and continues to review its nickel projects.
  • Nokia confirms its target of €2.3 to €2.9 billion in operating income this year, after a mixed Q1.
  • Nordea announces first-quarter results that exceed expectations.
  • Schindler reports first-quarter order intake slightly ahead of expectations.
  • Blackstone - The world's largest private equity firm said Thursday that its first-quarter distributable profits were up 1% year-on-year, as growth in fee-based earnings partially offset lower income from asset disposals.
  • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported a 9% rise in first-quarter net income on Thursday, beating market expectations thanks to surging demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence applications. Semiconductor stocks rose before the opening, with Nvidia gaining 1.7%, Advanced Micro Devices, Applied Materials, Arm Holdings up 1%.
  • Elevance Health on Thursday beat estimates for its first-quarter profit, as higher premiums in its commercial insurance business helped the insurer control medical costs.
  • Equifax - The credit rating company's share price fell by 7.9% after the close, as the group forecast lower-than-expected sales for the second quarter, with high rates likely to put pressure on demand for mortgages.
  • Alcoa reported an adjusted quarterly loss of 81 cents per share for the three months to March, compared with a loss per share of 23 cents last year.
  • Las Vegas Sands - Shares in the casino operator, which on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit ahead of estimates, are down 3.7% in pre-market trading as three brokerage firms cut their price target on the stock, citing weak trading in Macau.
  • DR Horton - The American homebuilder raised its full-year sales forecast on Thursday, as the limited supply of housing in the United States boosted sales. The share gained 2.27% in pre-market trading.

In other news:

  • New car registrations fell by 5.2% in March in Europe, according to ACEA, partly due to the Easter weekend.
  • UBS is close to cutting a hundred investment banking jobs, according to Bloomberg.
  • Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky covets the UK's International Distributions Services (Royal Mail) with an informal offer of GBX 320, rejected by the board.
  • Concord Chorus is to buy Hipnogsis for USD 1.16 per share.
  • Colruyt obtains final approval for the acquisition of 54 Match and Smatch stores in Belgium.
  • Lonza places a €1 billion bond at 3.875%.
  • DocMorris will place a CHF 200 million convertible bond.
  • Interroll appoints Ayhan Demirel as Chief Operating Officer.
  • Microsoft will avoid formal EU investigation into its $13 billion deal with OpenAI.
  • Oracle to invest over $8 billion in Japan in cloud computing and AI.
  • MSCI completes the acquisition of Foxberry.
  • Santos reports a drop in quarterly sales due to lower production and volumes.
  • Micron Technology will receive more than $6 billion in grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce to finance chip plant projects, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The stock was up 3.4% before the opening.
  • Discover Financial Services reported a 68% drop in first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, due to higher provisions for non-performing loans. The group's encouraging outlook supported the share price, which advanced by 1.1% before the opening.
  • Cadence Design Systems presented on Wednesday the latest version of its supercomputer designed to improve chip creation and the software that will run on these chips.
  • United Airlines said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with Boeing to be compensated for financial damages related to safety problems on the group's aircraft.
  • Alaska Air said Thursday it expects better-than-expected earnings for the current quarter, thanks to strong travel demand and a solid summer season.
  • Ibotta - The Walmart-backed digital marketing company is expected to raise $577.3 million and be valued at $2.67 billion, after pricing its IPO on Wednesday. Shares are expected to begin trading on Thursday.

Main publications of the day: Netflix, L'Oréal, EssilorLuxottica, ABB, Investor AB, Danone, Intuitive Surgical, Elevance Health, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Blackstone, DR Horton, Nordea, EQT AB, Schindler, Sartorius Stedim Biotech, Nokia, Edenred, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Infosys... The full earnings calendar is here.