European markets open to close, earnings, data and news

Shares of Dutch payments firm Adyen plummeted 28% by mid-afternoon on Thursday after the company’s first-half earnings missed expectations.

Adyen provides services to tech giants Netflix, Meta, Microsoft and Sporify, but said its margins were squeezed by hiring costs and reported slower revenue growth in North America.

– Elliot Smith

Lindsey Stewart, director of investment stewardship at Morningstar, discusses ESG’s comeback and the importance of a long-term view.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2% by late morning, having trimmed earlier losses of around 0.6%. Industrials fell 1.7% while mining stocks added 0.8%.

Norway’s central bank on Thursday raised its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 4%, citing resilient economic activity and a tight labor market.

Norges Bank noted that its monetary policy tightening thus far is having an effect and that pressures on the economy are easing, with consumer price inflation cooling but staying elevated.

“The future policy rate path will depend on economic developments. If the economy evolves as currently anticipated, the policy rate will be raised further in September”, said Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache.

– Elliot Smith

Corporate earnings continue to drive individual share price action in Europe.

Danish hearing aid manufacturer GN Store Nord and Swedish heating technology company Nibe Industrier plunged 9% and 11%, respectively, in early trade after their second-quarter earnings reports.

At the top of the Stoxx 600, Dutch conglomerate Philips added 4%.

– Elliot Smith

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.4% in early trade, with construction and material stocks shedding 0.8% to lead losses while miners bucked the general downward trend to add 0.8%.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is set to slide by around 49 points to 7,308, Germany’s DAX is seen around 99 points lower at 15,690 and France’s CAC 40 is expected to drop by around 51 points to 7,209, according to IG data.

Bank of America named a number of buy-rated European stocks its analysts are most positive on.

The bank ranked stocks based on “beat factor” — its analysts’ most out-of-consensus stock ideas based on price objectives and earnings estimates — in its Aug. 11 research note. All names are from the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lucy Handley

Several negative signals from China this week suggest that European companies with close ties to the world’s second-largest economy may face difficulties in the coming months.

CNBC Pro’s analysis of sales data found that companies in the mining, auto sector, luxury goods, and semiconductor and high-tech manufacturing are most exposed to China.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Ark Invest’s Renato Leggi says the firm wants to invest in software names related to artificial intelligence.

While investors have been very much focused on Nvidia, which makes advanced graphics processing units used for AI processes, Ark Invest wants to “focus on that piece that no one’s really paying attention to,” said Leggi, client portfolio manager at the firm.

He explains why and names two stocks the firm is “focused on.”

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan