European Are Stocks Little Changed Amid Earnings, Ukraine

London (May 7)  European stocks were little changed as disappointing earnings from Fiat SpA to Societe Generale SA offset a rally in Credit Agricole SA after its profit surged, while investors watched the crisis in Ukraine. U.S. futures were little changed and Asian shares slid.

Fiat tumbled 8.4 percent and Societe Generale slid 0.9 percent. Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA lost 3.5 percent after investor Wendel SA said it will cut its stake in Europe’s biggest building-materials supplier. Credit Agricole (ACA) gained 5 percent after saying first-quarter profit surged 85 percent. Henkel AG added 5 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent to 336.55 at 12:43 p.m. in London, after earlier losing as much as 0.4 percent. The gauge has fallen 0.8 percent from a six-year high on April 4 as violence between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists escalated. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.5 percent.

“It seems we’re now entering a phase where there is a bigger difference between those companies delivering good numbers and bad numbers,” said Espen Furnes, who helps oversee about $75 billion at Storebrand Asset Management in Oslo. “The market seems to be less forgiving with companies not delivering as expected. We’re probably going to see a further dispersion in performance on a stock to stock basis. Financial markets need to prepare for a prolonged period of unrest in Ukraine.”

U.S. Sanctions

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that plans by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk region to hold a May 11 referendum on secession were illegal and contrived. He said his country is ready to impose sanctions should Russia fail to withdraw its support for separatists.

Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said this week that four soldiers and about 30 pro-Russian separatists were killed in a May 5 clash. The government began an assault against pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk on April 13, after gunmen seized buildings and took several dozen captives. Russia has about 40,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Fiat tumbled 8.4 percent to 7.76 euros after saying earnings before interest, taxes and one-time items fell to 622 million euros ($865 million) in the first quarter, trailing the 854 million euros estimated by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Societe Generale lost 0.9 percent to 43.47 euros after saying net income fell to 315 million euros from 364 million euros a year earlier. Analysts on average had projected 868 million euros. France’s second-largest bank by market value wrote down 525 million euros at its Russian unit, citing a declining ruble and uncertain environment.

HSBC Slips

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) dropped 0.7 percent to 599.7 pence after Europe’s largest bank said customer activity remained muted in April. First-quarter pretax profit fell 20 percent to $6.79 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates.