European shares flat as BP offsets luxury gains

By Johann M Cherian

Feb 10 (Reuters) – Europe’s benchmark share index was little changed on Tuesday as a decline in BP after it suspended share buybacks countered gains in luxury stocks following a better-than-expected earnings update from Kering.

The ‍pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat at 621.66 points at 0915 GMT and was just a whisker away from an intra-day all-time high.

BP dropped 4% after the UK energy giant posted quarterly profit in line with analysts’ expectations and suspended its share buyback programme as it wrote down around $4 billion in its renewables and biogas businesses.

The broader energy sector slipped 0.7%.

“While there has ‌been an industry-wide pullback from green investment, this paints a sorry ‌picture for BP’s ability to leverage its expertise into the green energy economy,” said Joshua Sherrard-Bewhay, ESG analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

In contrast, luxury stocks gained 1.6% and were among top sectoral gains, led by a 13.5% jump in France’s Kering . Investors were relieved that the company ​reported a slightly smaller-than-expected drop in fourth-quarter sales, as new CEO Luca de Meo battles to stabilise the Gucci owner.

Meanwhile, AI-disruption worries showed signs of spilling over to ‍other areas of the market.

Insurance stocks fell 1.3% ​and led sectoral declines, tracking their U.S. peers on concerns that ​new AI tools could accelerate disruption in the sector after Insurify released an AI‑powered comparison ‍tool built on ChatGPT.

Despite the day’s mood, the STOXX has outperformed its U.S. rival, the S&P 500, so far this year as worries about a trade rift with Washington subside and traders bet on a reviving European economy.

“This movement is not anecdotal: it reflects a return of flows to Europe, which has long remained on the sidelines ‍of major market dynamics,” said John Plassard, head of investment strategy at Cité Gestion.

Still, uncertainties about the outlook for traditional businesses in the face of new AI models and concerns ‍about an unpredictable trade environment ‍with the U.S. are likely to add an element of ​caution.

Investors are looking ahead to a slew of U.S. economic ​data this ⁠week, including the pivotal inflation and jobs reports.

Standard Chartered lost ‌5% after the UK bank said CFO Diego De Giorgi has left the bank.

Among other stocks, TUI , Europe’s largest travel operator by market share, reported an upbeat quarterly operating profit, although concerns about weaker forward bookings sent shares down 6.2%.

Sweden’s Thule gained 12% after the recreational equipment maker beat quarterly revenue expectations, helped by acquisitions.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank ⁠Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)