European shares hovered near flat on Thursday, tucked away near their highest levels in a week, as financial institutions weighed exceptional earnings from U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp. against prevailing caution in the industrial and consumer sectors.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.1%. Regional stock exchanges mirrored this subdued trend, with Germany's DAX index virtually unchanged, while France's CAC 40 and Britain's FTSE 100 indexes declined by 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.
Nvidia delivers exceptional growth guidance
The Santa Clara, California-based chip design company announced quarterly revenue that more than doubled compared to last year, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence devices. CEO Jensen Huang reinforced this positive trend with his forecast of exceptional growth for the coming year.
Nvidia provided current-quarter revenue guidance that comfortably exceeded Wall Street expectations, and reported during its earnings call that management expects fiscal year 2028 revenue growth to reach approximately 70%, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of 44%.
Shares in the world's most valuable company rose as much as 5.6% in after-hours trading, the first positive reaction to the stock following an earnings announcement in several consecutive quarters, ending a long-standing pattern of selling on news releases.
Major continental suppliers benefited from this environment, with shares of semiconductor equipment giant ASML Holding NV rising 2.5%, while shares of chipmakers STM Incrolectronics NV, Infineon Technologies AG, and BE Semiconductors climbed between 2% and 4%. All of these companies are well-positioned to capitalize directly as the world's largest technology firms accelerate their capital spending cycles to secure their hardware market share.
German consumer confidence improves as September approaches
The German consumer confidence index, published jointly by the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) and the GfK market research institute, rose to -26.6 points in the period leading up to September.
According to the survey, improvements in economic and income expectations have helped to ease households' continued caution regarding discretionary spending. This improvement offers a glimmer of hope that private consumption in Europe's largest economy will gradually recover, with real wage growth offsetting the previous wave of inflation.
Oil prices fell for the fourth consecutive day amid Middle East peace talks.
Brent crude fell 0.5% to $87.40 a barrel, on track for its fourth consecutive daily decline. This downward pressure followed reports that the Qatari prime minister was heading to Tehran as part of efforts to revive diplomatic peace talks between the United States and Iran.
Renewed diplomatic efforts, along with ongoing talks between Iran and Oman regarding commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz, have helped to ease immediate fears of supply disruptions through this vital shipping lane.
