* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.2 percent
* ABB slips on cautious market outlook
* Credit Suisse jumps after surprising results
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - European shares drifted lower
in early trade on Thursday, weighed by poor results from Swiss
engineering group ABB <ABBN.VX>, though Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>
jumped after the size of its first-quarter profit surprised
investors.
At 0837 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European
shares was down 0.2 percent at 793.68 points after falling as
low as 787.56 points. It rose 1 percent in the previous session.
ABB fell 3.5 percent after giving a cautious outlook and
missing forecasts with a 35 percent drop in first-quarter profit
as customers hesitated about investing in new equipment due to
the economic downturn.
Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, however, rose 7.3 percent after
Switzerland's second-largest bank posted a net profit of 2
billion Swiss francs ($1.71 billion) for the first quarter,
twice as much as expected by analysts, and said it remained
optimistic about its prospects. []
Other banks were mixed. HSBC <HSBA.L> fell 0.5 percent,
Barclays <BARC.L> was down 0.8 percent and UBS <UBSN.VX> dropped
1.8 percent. But Natixis <CNAT.PA> gained 0.7 percent, Dexia
<DEXI.BR> rose 1.3 percent and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> was up 3
percent.
"It's another mixed bag. Whilst we could gain some optimism
from Credit Suisse's numbers, underlying concerns about the GM
situation, and mixed numbers from Morgan Stanley will simply not
disappear," said Chris Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL
Securities Ltd in a note.
"Only history will tell us if the doom-mongers are correct
but what can't be denied is that we haven't seen a wide-ranging
bout of optimism spread across the investing public."
A spokeswoman for General Motors <GM.N> said on Wednesday
the automaker is unlikely to make a $1 billion debt payment due
June 1 because it expects to be in the process of restructuring
its debt through a voluntary exchange or bankruptcy court by
that point. []
Morgan Stanley <MS.N> on Wednesday posted a bigger than
expected quarterly loss and slashed its dividend.
IN REVERSE GEAR
Automakers also came under pressure after Japanese carmaker
Toyota Motor Corp's <7203.T> group-wide sales fell 27 percent in
the first quarter.
BMW <BMWG.DE>, Porsche <PSHG_p.DE>, Volkswagen AG <VOWG.DE>
and Peugeot <PEUP.PA> were down 1.3-3 percent.
"If the global economic downswing continues to worsen, we
anticipate further pressure on auto ratings in 2009," Standard &
Poor's says in a report.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG <NOVN.VX> was up 4 percent after
it reported a better than expected first-quarter net profit,
down 14 percent due to a stronger U.S. dollar as it warned
ongoing currency losses could hit its full-year results.
[]
Among miners, Lonmin Plc <LMI.L>, the world's third-biggest
platinum producer, rose more than 5 percent after it posted a 30
percent rise in second-quarter platinum sales, helped by
processing a backlog, and completed a $575 million debt
refinancing package.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and
France's CAC 40 were down between 0.1 and 0.6 percent.
(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
