(Bloomberg) — European stocks erased all gains after the news that Ukraine’s armed forces fired British cruise missiles at military targets inside Russia for the first time, stoking fears of an escalation of the conflict.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at the close in London after rising as much as 0.7% earlier in the day. Markets also are waiting to see if earnings from Nvidia Corp., due after the US close, will sustain the rally in tech shares and the frenzy around artificial intelligence. Miners and health care rose the most, while carmakers and real estate trailed.
Among individual stocks, shares of Sage Group Plc rallied as much as 22% after strong earnings and a share buyback announcement. French lottery operator La Francaise des Jeux SA lost as much as 6.9% after a share placement.
“The market morphed into risk off, looking for safe havens like the dollar,” said Andrea Tueni head of sales trading at Saxo Banque France.
Nvidia’s earnings, due after market close, will show if the world’s most valuable company with a $3.6 trillion market capitalization continues its stellar run. The poster child of the artificial intelligence trade has a history of beating estimates in a big way, so any disappointment could prove a setback for the shares which have almost tripled in value this year.
“It can be justified only if they can keep their market share intact and also their margins intact, which is questionable in the context where more competition is coming,” Vincent Mortier, chief investment officer of Amundi SA, Europe’s biggest asset manager, said on Bloomberg TV.
“The volumes traded are just insane and so it’s a momentum stock by nature today,” he added.
Read: Nvidia Traders Brace for Potential $300 Billion Earnings Move
European equities have posted four straight weeks of declines, weighed down by concerns over trade tariffs pledged by US President-elect Donald Trump. China’s economic slowdown and Europe’s own anemic growth have also been hurdles for the market, leaving the pan-European index up 5% year-to-date against a 24% gain for the S&P 500.
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