China's car sales continued to grow in April from a year ago when sales were dented by the pandemic in the world's biggest auto market. Sales of passenger cars hit 1.6 million vehicles last month, up 12.4% from a year earlier when the market was still grappling from the fallouts of the pandemic, China Passenger Car Association said Tuesday. Sales of electric cars nearly tripled to 163,000 vehicles, the association said. In April, Tesla Inc. sold 25,845 made-in-China vehicles, the group's data showed. While a year-on-year comparison wasn't available, Tesla's sales dropped 27% from March, worse than the 12% month-on-month decline in overall electric vehicle sales. Tesla's drop comes after a protester at an auto show in Shanghai climbed on top of the American EV maker's car, shouting allegations about faulty breaks. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is developing a platform for car owners in China to access their driving data, it said last week. Tesla lost $11.84, or 1.9%, to $617.20.

The Swiss stock market fell sharply on Tuesday. At the same time, the Swiss market still held up quite well, compared with some neighboring stock exchanges. Larger losses in the leading index SMI were also prevented by the three major index members, whose losses were narrower due to their defensive nature. Investors are currently asking more questions because of the high valuation of stocks, many of which are close to all-time highs. With lavish stimulus programs and rising commodity prices, fears of inflation have also returned to the markets - a threat that could lead to higher key interest rates. The SMI lost 1.2 percent to 10,989 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 19 price losers and one price gainer. Turnover was 42.23 (previously: 35.99) million shares. The index giants Nestle (-0.7%), Novartis (-0.7%) and Roche (-1%) kept the losses on the overall market within limits. Swiss Life lost 2.4%. The life insurer's premium income fell 13 percent in the first quarter. But other insurance stocks such as Zurich Insurance (-1.7%) and Swiss Re (-1.8%) also fell significantly. Among banking stocks, UBS lost 3.2 percent and Credit Suisse 1.3 percent. Among cyclically sensitive stocks, ABB fell 1.3 percent and Holcim 2.5 percent. The only value in the plus were Swisscom (+0.2 percent).

Major European equity markets fell sharply Tuesday on concerns about a return of inflation and the impact of rising commodity prices on global output. The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 2% to 436.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were down 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively. The DAX 30 in Frankfurt dropped 1.8%, and the FTSE 100 in London gave up 2.5%. The manufacturers are facing a rise in the cost of raw materials, which could weigh on their margins. In Paris, Renault dropped 6.4% and Stellantis lost 3%. In Frankfurt, Daimler gave up 2.3%, Volkswagen 1.5% and BMW 1.4%. Alstom (-2.8%) has unveiled annual results marked by a decline in profitability, due to the impact of the integration of Bombardier Transportation in the last two months of its fiscal year 2020-2021. Thyssenkrupp fell 10.2% in Frankfurt despite raising its forecasts for fiscal 2021. German consumer electronics retailer Ceconomy (-10.5% in Frankfurt) saw its adjusted operating loss widen to €146 million in the second quarter from a loss of €131 million in the second quarter of the previous year. Natwest Group lost 3.1% to 191 pence on the London Stock Exchange after the British government sold 580 million shares in the bank at a discount.

Investors around the world retreated from stocks Tuesday, with a selloff in technology companies spreading to other sectors as concerns about inflation dragged U.S. indexes down for a second consecutive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 475 points as investors pulled back bets on many of the financials, industrials and energy stocks that have outpaced the broader market this year. Fears about a sustained jump in inflation have weighed on growth stocks, including those in the tech sector, while cyclical shares have climbed on expectations of a full economic reopening. On Tuesday, however, that trade reversed, as stocks ranging from Home Depot to Chevron to American Express pulled back 2.6% or more, dragging the Dow down. The index closed at 34269.16, falling 473.66 points, or 1.4%. Many technology stocks, in contrast, finished higher after falling sharply earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite edged down 12.43 points, or 0.1%, to 13389.43, cutting its losses after falling as much as 2.2% earlier in the day. The S&P 500 dropped 36.33 points, or 0.9%, to 4152.10, also paring earlier losses. Among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors, energy stocks suffered the steepest fall Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum dropped $2.10, or 7.9%, to $24.53, while Exxon Mobil lost $1.99, or 3.2%, to $60.59. Other cyclical companies that posted big losses included home builder PulteGroup, which fell $2.81, or 4.5%, to $59.54. Royal Caribbean declined $2.65, or 3.2%, to $81.28. Megacap tech companies Google parent Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft also retreated. Semiconductor giant Intel fell 93 cents, or 1.7%, to $55.04. Palantir Technologies, in contrast, jumped $1.74, or 9.4%, to $20.21 after the data-mining-software specialist reported better-than-expected revenue and gave a strong forecast. Technology stocks including Twitter and Snap finished higher after trading lower earlier in the session. In corporate news, Novavax shares plummeted $22.32, or 14%, to $138.18 after the company said it delayed plans to seek regulatory clearance for its Covid-19 vaccine.

After the previous day's slide, the stock markets in Asia did not settle down on Wednesday. It goes down again on a broad front. As on the previous day, inflation and Corona concerns weigh on the regional stock markets. In addition to the catastrophic Corona situation in India, Taiwan now also moves into focus. The government of the Chinese Island nation tightens the lockdown after a new outbreak of the disease. The Taiex slumps in phases by over 8 percent. Shanghai reports almost unchanged prices, Hong Kong slightly lighter, where the market now, however, gives up for four sessions. The Nikkei-225 plunges over 2 percent despite a recovering U.S. dollar against the yen in the morning. Also in South Korea, the Kospi loses about 2 percent.

In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged up to 1.624%, from 1.604% Monday. The annual high is 1.74 percent; at the beginning of the year, it was just below 1.00 percent.

LBBW raises target Carl Zeiss to EUR 154 (150) - Buy
Berenberg raises Total target to EUR 42 (39) - Hold
Metzler raises Fraport target to EUR 72 (63) - Buy
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