Shares in Italy’s Banca Carige SpA fell Tuesday morning, dropping to the price per share that potential buyer BPER Banca SpA said it would offer minority shareholders. BPER said late Monday that it has been granted an exclusivity period for the potential acquisition of Banca Carige SpA after making an improved offer for its smaller rival. BPER said it will launch a public offer of 0.80 euro (91 cents) a share for Carige shares after acquiring a majority stake in the bank from FITD, Italy’s deposit-guarantee fund. BPER has been granted exclusivity until Feb. 15 by FITD, which owns 80% of Carige, after submitting a new non-binding offer for Carige on Sunday. The new offer requires the FITD to inject 530 million euros ($600.4 million) into the troubled lender before selling it, almost half the amount BPER tabled in its original bid last month. Under the offer, BPER will pay EUR1 for FITD’s stake in Carige. BPER will begin due diligence on Carige and hopes to sign an agreement no later than Feb. 15. and to complete the acquisition of the majority stake by June 30, it said.

After a weak start to the year, Swiss stocks rallied on Tuesday. The SMI gained 0.9 per cent to 12,710 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 18 price gainers and 2 price losers. 39.55 (previously: 45.26) million shares were traded. Sika gained significantly after the presentation of sales figures. According to Baader, these were better than consensus expectations. The Americas region in particular surprised positively. The targets were confirmed. The share of the specialty chemicals company gained 2.9 percent. It was the second strongest stock in the SMI in 2021 before profit-taking set in at the beginning of the year. Holcim rose by 4 per cent. The building materials producer is acquiring PRB Group, the largest independent specialist construction solutions company in France with net sales of 340 million euros. PRB offers high-performance building solutions such as coatings, insulation materials or adhesives and flooring. As an existing business partner and with clear overlaps in products and markets, PRB is a good fit for Holcim, say analysts at Davy.

European equity markets regained ground on Tuesday after several sessions of declines on the prospect of a US interest rate hike. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's hearing before a Senate committee from 4pm focused much of investors' attention at the end of the session. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.8% to 483.1 points, after falling 3% in the previous three sessions. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gained 1% and 0.9% respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 1.1% while the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.6%. Volkswagen AG sold about 3.3 million vehicles in China in 2021, down 14%, after it was hit by the global semiconductor shortage, its China chief executive said Tuesday. The German auto maker aims to raise sales in the world’s biggest auto market by about 15% in 2022 if component-supply conditions improve, said Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China. Volkswagen, like other global car makers, has been grappling with a shortage of chips over the past year. Cerberus Capital Management is selling a chunk of its stakes in Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG , following years of disappointing share performances at the German lenders. The U.S. private-equity firm is selling about 21 million shares out of around 62 million it owns at Deutsche Bank, and 25 million out of 63 million it holds at Commerzbank, according to a person familiar with the sale. Based on the price of the shares Monday, the combined value of the stock to be sold is about $500 million. Cerberus bought both stakes in 2017, becoming one of the biggest backers of both banks. It owned 3% of Deutsche Bank and 5% of Commerzbank. The firm’s thinking was that it could make money in the profit-starved banking landscape as economic growth picked up, among other factors.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for the first time in days, led by a rebound in shares of technology companies, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank's efforts to corral inflation. Stocks opened lower and dipped further as senators peppered Mr. Powell with questions during his reconfirmation hearing for a second term as Fed chair. Indexes later recovered. The S&P 500 added 42.78 points, or 0.9%, to 4713.07, snapping a five-day losing streak. The Nasdaq Composite added 210.62 points, or 1.4%, to 15153.45, building on Monday's midday turnaround. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 183.15 points, or 0.5%, to 36252.02, its first gain in five days. Boeing Co. sold more aircraft than Airbus SE last year but delivered half as many passenger jets, in a sign of the changing landscape facing the world’s two dominant plane makers. Chicago-based Boeing said Tuesday that it won orders for 909 planes in 2021 but delivered only around 280 passenger jets, falling behind Airbus and relying more on its cargo jets and military versions of commercial planes. Including cancellations, Boeing secured 535 net new orders, including older deals for 56 planes that it now considers more likely to be fulfilled. The market for selling used cars online has exploded during the pandemic. Now, General Motors Co. wants to help its dealers secure a bigger piece. The Detroit auto maker is launching a new website called CarBravo that will help U.S.-based GM dealers market and sell used cars online, competing directly with Carvana Co. and other retailers that have embraced virtual sales in the last couple of years. GM dealers would sell both GM and non-GM vehicles through the site.

The latest statements by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reverberated on the East Asian stock markets on Wednesday. Across the board, the indices are rising sharply. Powell had not been as hawkish in a speech as some recent representatives from Fed circles. The HSI in Hong Kong gained 2.1 per cent. In Shanghai, the index rose by 0.4 per cent.

Treasury yields continued to fall in Asia, after 10- and 30-year maturities posted their biggest declines in weeks on Tuesday following Powell's re-confirmation hearing.

UBS raises ING target to EUR 16.30 (15.30) – Buy
Dt. Bank raises Glencore target to 450 (440) p – Buy
Citi raises Flutter to Buy (Sell) – Target 14,700 p

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