Autos led declines in the Stoxx Europe 600 index as Renault SA fell the most in almost five months, with concerns over pricing pressure outweighing the French carmaker's first-quarter sales beat. Germany's DAX underperformed as other auto- and partsmakers fell. L'Oreal SA gained after the cosmetics maker reported strong demand. Contracts for the Nasdaq 100 retreated by more than one per cent. A region-wide index of Asian stocks edged lower.
Elsewhere on the monetary policy front, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot said the ECB may need to follow a widely expected hike next month by raising rates in June and July. “It's too early to talk about a pause,” the Dutch central bank chief told the Irish Times newspaper in an interview published Thursday. “For a pause, I would really need to see a convincing reversal in underlying-inflation dynamics.
In Asia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. forecast worse-than-anticipated revenue for the current quarter, reflecting a persistent slump in demand for everything from smartphones to server chips. Apple Inc.'s most important chipmaker warned that demand from the mobile and PC industries would remain “soft” for now.