As Pfizer Inc. forecasts strong sales this year for its Covid-19 vaccine and treatment, the drugmaker is on the hunt for deals to bolster its pipeline of experimental products. Pfizer said Tuesday that surging sales of its Covid-19 treatment and continued demand for its shots should boost the company’s revenue to around $100 billion this year. The company estimated that sales of its antiviral pill Paxlovid will reach about $22 billion while the vaccine will likely add $32 billion. That is on top of last year’s sales of $36.8 billion for the vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, the highest annual sales total for any pharmaceutical product. Paxlovid sales last year totaled $76 million. The company has done a handful of recent acquisitions and partnerships to bolster its pipeline drugs and vaccines, including several partnerships announced last month to boost its growing mRNA business. In December, Pfizer said it would acquire Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $6.7 billion. Pfizer says it has invested $25 billion on business development since 2019. With a growing chest of cash, Pfizer says its deal-making strategy will focus on drugs in early and late-stage development in areas the company is already focusing on such as oncology, immunology and rare diseases.

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The Swiss stock market recorded slight losses on Tuesday. The focus remained on concerns about rising interest rates and inflation. The SMI lost 0.3 per cent to 12,156 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 10 price losers and 10 price gainers. 37.06 million (previously: 34.79) shares were traded. Figures from AMS-Osram were received extremely positively. It is true that business in the final quarter was significantly less profitable than recently. But analysts at Stifel said the company's forecast for revenue was higher than expected and the forecast range for adjusted EBIT margin of 8 to 11 per cent also implied that the expectation of 9 per cent would be exceeded. Consensus expectations for 2022 are expected to rise after the results. The stock rose 9 per cent. Financial stocks extended their recent gains. The sector is a beneficiary of rising interest rates. Credit Suisse advanced 1.5 per cent and UBS 1.6 per cent. The shares of Givaudan (-2.9 per cent), Lonza (-1.6 per cent) and Sika (-2.9 per cent), which have been weak since the beginning of the year, were again under pressure.

European equity indices were little changed on Tuesday as investors analysed a string of corporate results while monitoring rising bond yields fuelled by fears of tighter monetary policy. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat at 465.3 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 0.3% each. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 0.2% while the FTSE 100 in London gave up 0.1%. The European lender with the most ambitious plans to create a U.S.-style full-service global investment bank these days is France’s BNP Paribas. Fourth-quarter results Tuesday showed what a challenge that can be. Continental Europe’s largest bank by market value reported decent overall numbers, flattered by lower loan losses. Revenue and profit grew last quarter, creating a comfortable capital buffer of 12.9% and delivering a return on tangible equity of 10%. But BNP’s global-markets division trailed the performance of U.S. rivals on both the top and bottom lines because of normalizing markets. BP PLC sought to reassure investors that declining oil-and-gas production won’t cripple earnings for the remainder of the decade as the British energy giant pivots to lower-carbon investments. The reassurances came on a day when BP posted strong quarterly and annual earnings, following similar results in recent days by Exxon Mobil Corp. , Chevron Corp. and Shell PLC. The large Western oil companies are experiencing resurgent comebacks following sharp profit declines earlier in the pandemic, as supply constraints push the prices of crude and gas higher.

Major U.S. stock indexes rose as investors snapped up shares of companies across industries. The S&P 500 advanced 0.8%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3%. Seven of the S&P 500's 11 sectors were recently up for the day, with the financials group gaining 1% and the technology group rising 0.8%. The energy segment bucked the trend, declining 2.5% as oil prices fell. The S&P 500 is still down 5.5% in 2022 after selling off in January. "It just looks like people are very happy sort of buying the dip," said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management. "We have very strong markets across the board here." Peloton Interactive Inc. plans to replace its chief executive, cut costs and overhaul its board after a slowdown in demand caused the once-hot bike maker’s value to plummet. Peloton co-founder John Foley, who has led the company for its entire 10-year existence, is stepping down as CEO and will become executive chairman, the company told The Wall Street Journal. Barry McCarthy, the former chief financial officer of Spotify Technology SA and Netflix Inc., will become CEO and president and join Peloton’s board. KKR & Co.’s fourth-quarter earnings fell as the change in the value of its investments lagged behind the broader market, while cash available to shareholders more than doubled to a fresh record. The private-equity firm reported net income of $507.6 million, or 82 cents a share, in the final quarter of 2021, versus $1.48 billion, or $2.46 a share, a year earlier.

The East Asian financial markets are easing in the middle of the week. After a friendly trend had already prevailed on the US stock markets the previous day, the East Asian markets rose by up to 2.2 per cent in Hong Kong. The Nikkei index in Japan gains 1.2 per cent to 27,610 points. Shanghai lags a little behind, but prices also rise there (+0.7 per cent). On Tuesday, there was a conspicuous closing rally in Shanghai, which, according to market observers, was caused by purchases by state-controlled funds - apparently with the aim of stabilising the market.

US-Treasury yields remained near multiyear highs in Asia, after the 10-year rate on Tuesday climbed to levels not seen since July 2019, with some analysts predicting it may soon hit 2%.

Credit Suisse raises Nokia target to EUR 5.70 (5.20) – Neutral

Deutsche Bank raises Faurecia target to EUR 55 (50) – Buy

Citi lowers Deutsche Telekom target to EUR 19.50 (20.50) – Buy

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