Stocks fell in Europe and Asia as earnings from Swatch Group AG to Nomura Holdings Inc. missed estimates and investors weighed the outlook for oil prices after a slide below $30 a barrel.
Europe’s benchmark equity gauge slumped for a third day, while Japan’s Topix index sank the most in two weeks on a 10 percent plunge in Nomura. U.S. stock-index futures were little changed. Oil steadied after its biggest two-day drop in almost seven years, buoying Russia’s ruble.
U.S. crude’s 43 percent retreat over the past year has weighed on growth in oil-rich emerging economies, fueled speculation of defaults by commodity producers and battered earnings at corporate giants from BP Plc to Exxon Mobil Corp.
Nomura postponed a target for making its overseas operations profitable and Swatch Group said sales declined for the first time in six years, adding to signs that business conditions are deteriorating beyond the commodities sector.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.7 percent at 8:19 a.m. in London, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 2.3 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose less than 0.1 percent.
Swatch Group slumped 3.6 percent after the maker of Tissot and Omega timepieces reported 2015 earnings that missed analyst projections.
Novo Nordisk A/S, the world’s largest maker of insulin, dropped 4.9 percent as fourth-quarter profit trailed estimates. Nomura, Kobe Steel Ltd., Casio Computer Co. and IHI Corp. all tumbled more than 10 percent in Tokyo trading after their results disappointed investors.
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