European markets fall; Energy firm Drax down 8% on probe into past statements

European stock markets fell on Thursday, as investors assessed an above-consensus quarterly earnings report from tech giant Nvidia.

The U.S.-listed firm, which makes products for tech giants including Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon, said sales growth this quarter will remain above 50% in a sign of the continued resilience of the artificial intelligence boom. Fiscal second-quarter revenue came in just above expectations, at $46.74 billion.

The company’s shares slipped after data center revenue missed estimates and concerns rose over the future of Nvidia’s China sales.

In Europe, French spirits maker Pernod Ricard reported a 3% decline in sales for the full-year. Performance was pulled down by weak consumer sentiment in China and tariff uncertainty in the U.S. impacting distributor inventories. Shares nonetheless rose 1.4% after the drinks giant said it expected stronger sales in the coming fiscal year.

British renewable energy group Drax dropped more than 10% before paring losses to around 8% after the company announced it was being investigated by U.K. regulators.

The probe relates to statements made about its biomass sourcing between January 2022 and March 2024, and the compliance of its 2021, 2022 and 2023 annual reports with listing, disclosure and transparency rules.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened higher in early trade but closed in the red by 0.2%.

In the auto sector, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association showed European Union new car registrations rose by an annual 7.4% in July, notching a 39.1% increase in the number of battery-electric vehicles.

The figures highlighted the strong year-to-date growth of Chinese EV-maker BYD, which has recorded a 290.6% hike in new registrations over the January-July period, by far the highest of any manufacturer. European – including U.K. – registrations for BYD’s U.S. rival Tesla are down 33.6% over the same stretch, according to the EAMA.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.