A pedestrian walks past the logo of Swiss banking giant UBS engraved on the wall of its headquarters in Zurich, on May 8, 2019.
fabrice coffrini/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
European stocks traded in a tight range on Tuesday on worries over the political environment on both sides of the Atlantic, as a wave of the Continent’s largest companies, including UBS and Reckitt Benckiser, reported how the pandemic has helped rather than hindered business.
The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
inched up 0.1%, while the major regional indexes — the German DAX
DAX,
French CAC 40
PX1,
and U.K. FTSE 100
UKX,
— were mixed.
U.S. stocks
SPX,
dropped on Monday as on-again, off-again hopes over fiscal stimulus seemed to be off again. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she hoped to be able to say whether talks can be completed by the end of Tuesday.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
YM00,
rose 137 points.
The European Union, meanwhile, indicated it was willing to intensify talks with the U.K. on a new trade pact, but made no other signal it was softening its position, according to a report in The Times newspaper.
The news on the COVID-19 pandemic front continued to be alarming, with Ireland moving to its highest level of restrictions while Wales is set to start a national lockdown on Friday.
The losses came even with a number of well-received earnings reports.
Logitech International’s
LOGN,
LOGI,
shares jumped 21% as the Swiss-American computer peripheral maker enjoyed a 75% jump in fiscal second-quarter sales, as its profit surged during the quarter and the company hiked its annual guidance.
Shares of biopharmaceutical lab equipment maker Sartorius
SRT,
climbed 4% after saying it now expects revenue at the upper end, or slightly above, its previously forecast 22% to 26% range for the year. The company said it has benefited from the preparations of biopharmaceutical customers to build up production capacities for coronavirus vaccines and COVID-19 therapeutics.
UBS
UBSG,
UBS,
shares rose 3% as the Swiss banking giant set aside $1.5 billion for stock buybacks, and another $1 billion for dividends, which it expects to receive permission to restart next year. UBS said its third-quarter profit nearly doubled, thanks to a 42% surge in global markets revenue.
Reckitt Benckiser
RB,
shares rose 2% as the consumer-products company hiked its sales guidance, now seeing low double-digit percentage growth for the year, thanks to demand for disinfection brands like Lysol.
BMW
BMW,
shares inched higher. Late on Monday, BMW said it would report better-than-forecast automotive cash flow in the third quarter.
Shares of remote software provider TeamViewer
TMV,
slumped 7% after Permira sold an 11% stake at an 8% discount to Monday’s close. The stock has surged 34% this year.
