🥊 European heavyweight knockouts

What’s going on here?

Global stocks stumbled on Wednesday as LVMH and ASML raised concerns about luxury goods and semiconductors.

What does this mean?

Times are tough for fashion giant LVMH and chip equipment maker ASML – Europe’s second- and third-biggest stocks, respectively. ASML forecasted a less-than-rosy 2025, hinting at potential challenges ahead for the semiconductor industry, AI aside. Its share price fell 5% on Wednesday, after suffering its biggest plunge in nearly three decades the day before. In all, the stock dropped roughly 20% in 24 hours and is down about 4% so far this year. Champagne and clothing luminary LVMH, meanwhile, reported disappointing third-quarter sales as Chinese luxury shoppers continued to keep their wallets firmly closed. Its stock fell too, by 4% – leaving it down 17% this year.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Size doesn’t always mean strength.

ASML said life’s looking pretty gorgeous when it comes to AI, but a bit hideous in other areas. Meanwhile, LVMH’s sales missed estimates by around 4%. Now, that’s not terrible, but it is disappointing – and it’s difficult to pin the tail on one donkey as most areas of the business struggled. These are tough pills to swallow for the stock market: both companies’ shares trade at sky-high valuations, so investors hold them to an equally lofty standard – and punish them when they fall short.

The bigger picture: Welcome to hard times.

ASML’s rough 2025 outlook shook semiconductor stocks around the world, including Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron. The luxury stock set, meanwhile, managed to stay mostly on its stilettos – having already weathered a pretty bumpy year. Mind you, a little wobble isn’t always a bad thing in the market: buying a quality stock on a dip can be a successful investing strategy. Be warned, though: calling the bottom is tough.

What’s going on here?

India’s stock market is losing the popularity contest as investors run to China, lured by the country’s bold new economic stimulus initiatives.

What does this mean?

The Indian Nifty 50 and Sensex indexes stumbled again on Wednesday. Overseas investors have sold Indian stocks every weekday this month, dumping more than $7 billion as of Monday, according to Bloomberg. That coincided with a sour corporate earnings picture from the country, which has added to investor unease. Major player Tata Consultancy Services, for one, reported slimmer-than-expected profit margins. Even Hyundai Motor India couldn’t rouse any enthusiasm from investors: its revved-up IPO struggled to get out of second gear. And with earnings reports still ahead for big firms like Infosys and Nestlé India, folks are starting to chew at their fingernails.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Road to China.

Foreign investors are now chasing higher returns – in China. That’s thanks to a new raft of Chinese spending measures, whose details are still on the hazy side. It remains to be seen whether that stimulus fuel will be enough to restart the country’s growth engines and speed it toward its targets. But right now, after a long stretch of being snubbed by foreign investors, China’s stocks are trading at cheap valuations and looking pretty attractive compared to India’s.

The bigger picture: Support for the home team.

All’s not lost for Indian stocks. India’s own still-optimistic investors have bought $7 billion of their country’s shares this month – matching those outflows dollar-for-dollar and stemming the decline. What’s more, they’ve picked them up at a better price than they’d have seen if the rally had continued unabated.