April 16, 2025

European shares fall after Nvidia, ASML signal mounting corporate pain

(Reuters) - European shares slipped on Wednesday after a strong start to the week, as concerns over corporate profits deepened following news that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA ) would shoulder billions in charges due to U.S. export curbs to China.

Adding to tech woes, ASML (AS: ASML ), the world’s biggest supplier of computer chip-making equipment, warned that tariffs were increasing uncertainty for its outlook for 2025 and 2026, sending its shares 7.4% lower.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.9%, as of 0706 GMT, after two days of gains although market moves were tamer compared to a week ago.

Other regional indexes - Germany, France, Spain, and the UK also fell between 0.3% and 0.8%.

Nvidia faced a $5.5 billion charge related to its most advanced chip available for sale in China, as U.S. attempts to keep ahead in the AI race.

The European technology sector fell 3.2%, leading declines among sectors.

The outlook for European corporate earnings has worsened as the uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs persists, with analysts expecting companies to report a 3% drop in first-quarter profit, a deeper decline than the 2.2% drop analysts expected a week ago, according to data compiled by LSEG IBES.

The focus is also on the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday, with markets widely anticipating a 25-basis-point rate cut.

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