By Riva Gold 

Global stocks showed signs of cooling Thursday after markets in the U.S., China and Europe advanced for two consecutive sessions.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.5% in early trading led by declines in banks and auto companies, following modest losses across Asian markets. Futures pointed to a 0.6% opening loss for the S&P 500 after the index closed at its highest level in a month.

Lingering concerns about global trade, economic growth and a handful of disappointing corporate results contributed to Thursday's downbeat trading, analysts said.

Among decliners in Europe, shares of Société Générale fell 4.5% after the French lender said it expects revenue in its Global Markets and Investor Services business to fall by around 20% in the fourth quarter and by 10% for 2018. Shares of BNP Paribas fell 2.2% and Deutsche Bank fell 3.7%.

The trade-sensitive auto sector also fell 1.6% following media reports that the Trump administration is inclined to impose tariffs on automotive imports.

Investors separately parsed news that federal prosecutors are pursuing a criminal investigation of China's Huawei Technologies for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. business partners.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said Wednesday that the Trump administration's trade negotiations may be delayed as a result of the partial government shutdown, while the Federal Reserve's beige book report late Wednesday showed some firms were pulling back on planned investments and paring back their 2019 forecasts.

In Asian trading, stock benchmarks mostly edged slightly lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.4%.

The yen rose 0.4% against the dollar, while yields on 10-year Treasurys fell to 2.699% from 2.729% Wednesday afternoon, suggesting a modest bid for haven assets. Yields move inversely to prices.

In currencies, the British pound edged down 0.2% at $1.2845 Thursday after British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote in her government Wednesday as she tries to find a compromise Brexit deal that Parliament would approve.

The moves came after U.S. markets closed higher Wednesday for a second session, supported by mostly upbeat fourth-quarter earnings reports from big banks.

Goldman Sachs shares rose 9.5% after the bank topped earnings targets, and Bank of America climbed 7.2% following its profit beat, supported by recent interest-rate increases.

"Numbers overall have been better than expected, and guidance has been reasonably constructive in terms of what [bank executives] are seeing on the economy," said David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Private Wealth Management. "So far, so good, but it's very early days," he said.

Market focus Thursday is likely to continue to lie with the fourth-quarter earnings season with updates due from Morgan Stanley and Netflix later in the day.

Late Wednesday, Alcoa--which has historically been seen as a bellwether for the broader earnings season--fell in after-hours trading after the aluminum maker said it expects the supply of one of its key products to outpace demand this year.

Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 17, 2019 04:08 ET (09:08 GMT)