European markets fell in early trading, pulling back from multi-month highs as the oil price dropped to adjust to higher supply from Kuwait where oil workers ended their three-day strike.
Basic materials and tech stocks were the only rising sectors on the FTSE 100 in early trading after ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) shares jumped 4% following well-received earnings.
Automakers in Europe were mixed in response to shares of Mitsubishi Motors (T:7211) being driven down 15% after admitting to falsifying fuel economy data. The risk that other car manufacturers have been naughty on emissions is arguably baked in to the share prices following the declines last autumn in the wake of the VW scandal.
The scale of the cheating at Mitsubishi does not appear to be as far reaching and as sophisticated as that perpetrated in Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) so the impact on the share price should be less in the coming weeks. Tyre pressure figures were faked to cajole mileage rates higher, a far cry from programming software to deliberately cheat the tests. Almost 470,000 vehicles made for Nissan (T:7201) are affected but this number could rise in the coming days following an investigation.
The British pound shrugged off data showing UK unemployment rose and average earnings declined in the three months through March. Cable dropped immediately following the data release but dip-buyers swept in on a new wave of confidence that Britain will remain in the EU. Sterling’s recent gains are mostly churn after a big drop but warnings from the UK Treasury and BOE Governor Mark Carney at the margins have improved the chance of the UK remaining in EU.
A lower oil price and a poorly received update from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is prompting a lower open in US markets ahead of another weave of first quarter corporate earnings updates.
Notable earnings before the US open: Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), US Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT),
Notable earnings after the close: Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), American Express (NYSE:AXP), Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT)
USA pre-opening levels
S&P 500: 4 points lower at 2,096
Dow Jones: 27 points lower at 18,026
Nasdaq 100: 7 points lower at 4,530
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