European stocks struggled for traction on Wednesday, as investors mulled concerns over COVID-19 vaccines and looked toward the start of earnings season. Shares of SAP and LVMH Moet Hennessey and easyJet climbed on well-received results.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP,
+0.17%
inched up 0.1% to 436.33, after a modest move up on Tuesday. The German DAX
DAX,
+0.01%
was flat, the FTSE 100
UKX,
+0.16%
rose 0.1%, while the French CAC 40
PX1,
+0.44%
rose 0.4%.
U.S. stock futures
ES00,
+0.14%
NQ00,
+0.19%
inched higher, following Tuesday’s mostly higher close, with a fresh record for the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.33%
and a 1% gain for the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.05%.
Investors have been absorbing some disappointment on the vaccine front after U.S. health authorities on Tuesday advised a temporary halt of Johnson & Johnson’s
JNJ,
-1.34%
one-shot COVID inoculation due to “extremely rare” blood-clotting issues in six women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to hold an emergency meeting to discuss J&J’s vaccine later on Wednesday.
Those officials said the cases were similar to blood clots detected in a small number of people in Europe who were immunized with AstraZeneca’s
AZN,
-0.47%
AZN,
+0.81%
shot. Johnson & Johnson is pausing its rollout in Europe, which has been struggling to bring its vaccination program up to speed.
Investors are turning to the start of earnings season, with banks JP Morgan
JPM,
-1.19%,
Goldman Sachs
GS,
-1.25%
and Wells Fargo
WFC,
-2.40%
all reporting ahead of Wall Street’s open.
Read: Corporate earnings growth could hit a decade-high despite COVID-19 pandemic
Europe earnings also trickled in, with shares of SAP
SAP,
+1.53%
SAP,
+4.74%
up 4.2% and near the top of Stoxx 600 gainers after preliminary first-quarter results beat forecasts and 2021 guidance was slightly higher, as license revenue rebounded and the German business software maker saw a sharp rise in new cloud business.
“The results are likely to alleviate some pessimism; investors will want to understand to what extent new cloud bookings grew and the pace of cloud transition,” said a team of Jefferies analysts led by Julian Serafini, in a note to clients.
Not far behind were shares of easyJet
EZJ,
+2.53%
after the low-cost airline said its headline pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2021 came in slightly better than expectations. Second quarter cash burn — a measure of how quickly a company is spending money — came in above guidance.
And shares of LVMH Moet-Hennessy
LVMH,
+2.92%
rose 2.6% after consensus-beating first-quarter sales driven by strong performance by flagship brands. It was the first period marking the integration of U.S. jeweler Tiffany, which saw organic revenue growth of 35%, while core fashion, including Louis Vuitton and Dior labels, posted growth of 52%. Shares of Compagnie Financiere Richemont
CFR,
+2.09%
were also up over 2%.
Leading decliners were shares of Tesco
TSCO,
-2.02%,
which fell 3% after the grocery chain reported a fall in pretax profit for fiscal 2021, driven by pandemic-fueled costs. The company said it expects improved profitability for the year ahead on reduced spending.
Credit Suisse
CS,
-0.75%
CSGN,
-0.65%
shares fell 1.2%. The Swiss banking giant on Tuesday flagged around $2.3 billion in problematic loans in its Greensill Capital funds.
