Elon Musk donated roughly $5.7 billion of Tesla Inc. shares to charity last year, according to a securities filing, making him by at least one measure one of last year’s top philanthropic donors. The donations were made in the middle of a series of stock sales by Mr. Musk, who sold more than $16 billion of Tesla shares in the last two months of 2021. The Tesla chief executive, who is compensated in stock awards and doesn’t accept a cash salary from the electric-vehicle maker, also converted roughly 22.9 million vested stock options into shares last year. Such activity likely triggered a hefty 2021 tax bill that charitable giving could help offset. Donations of appreciated stock are particularly attractive for wealthy people. The forgone capital gains aren’t taxed. The value of the stock is a charitable deduction, subject to limits. And the stock comes out of the person’s taxable estate. Mr. Musk estimated in December, weeks after the November donations, that he would pay more than $11 billion in 2021 taxes.Tesla’s stock, which was trading above $1,060 at the time of Mr. Musk’s donations, closed Tuesday at $922.43. The stock was up 5.3% in Tuesday trading.

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On Tuesday, the SMI rose by 1.3 per cent to 12,182 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 19 price winners and one price loser. 38.05 (previously: 51.49) million shares were traded. Cyclical stocks were in demand - including ABB, which gained 2.9 per cent. The industrial goods group has renamed its turbocharger division and is preparing to spin off the business or sell it in the first half of 2022. The division, which supplies propulsion systems to the marine, energy, rail and road sectors, will now trade as Accelleron. Financials group Partners Group (+2%) received a total of US$8.5 billion from its clients for its third direct infrastructure programme. Defensive stocks lagged behind, such as Swisscom (-0.1%) and Nestle (+0.4%). Among the second-line stocks, Temenos plunged 7.9 per cent. The banking software provider's fourth-quarter sales as well as EBIT had missed consensus, according to Citi analysts. Traders rated the business figures of Straumann Group (+4.9%) as good. Clariant (+2.9%) recovered slightly from the previous day's plunge. The specialty chemicals group announced that sales and liquidity were not affected by accounting errors. Due to the possibility of such, the group had postponed its business statement. In the pharmaceutical sector, Cosmo (+7.4%) and Basilea (+4%) presented business figures.

European stocks gained as markets respond positively to signs of a potential easing of political tensions in eastern Europe. The Stoxx Europe 600 index increased by 1.4% to 467.6 points, recovering much of the ground lost the previous day on concerns about Ukraine. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 rose 1.9% each. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 climbed 2% and the FTSE 100 in London advanced 1%. Mercialys (+6.1%) is targeting growth in earnings per share (FFO) of at least 2% and a dividend of between 85% and 95% of FFO for 2022. Mercialys made this announcement as its operating profit, which corresponds to the group's share of net profit before depreciation, amortisation and capital gains on disposals, rose by 6.5% to €101.8 million in 2021 and by 5% per share. The investment fund Amber Capital denied press reports on Tuesday that it intended to launch an activist campaign to push the engineering group Spie (+4.6%) to sell itself. EDF gained 3.1% after the Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery, Bruno Le Maire, said that all options were being considered for the future of the energy group. The State already owns just under 84% of EDF's capital. Michelin (-3.5%) expects another year of growth in its operating profit in 2022, but stressed that the context remains "very disturbed" by supply problems and rising raw material prices. Louis Vuitton, the flagship brand of LVMH (+3.6%), will raise its prices worldwide on Wednesday to offset the rising cost of raw materials, labour and transport, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a spokeswoman for the French luxury group in China.

U.S. stock indexes rose, while energy prices slumped and bonds sold off, after Russia said it had pulled back some troops from the Ukrainian border, allaying some fears about conflict between the two countries. The S&P 500 climbed 69.40 points, or 1.6%, to 4471.07 Tuesday, snapping a three day losing streak. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 422.67 points, or 1.2%, to 34988.84, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 348.84 points, or 2.5%, to 14139.76. Bitcoin prices climbed, adding 4.1% to trade at $44,006.60 at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday. Investors continue to assess rising inflation as they look ahead to the Federal Reserve meeting in March. Fresh data on Tuesday showed that prices suppliers charged businesses and other customers jumped in January, rising a seasonally adjusted 1% from the prior month, the sharpest rise since May 2021. Producer prices rose 9.7% on a 12-month basis, nearly the same as the prior month. Earnings season continues. After Tuesday’s close, Airbnb posted its second consecutive quarterly profit for the three months ended Dec. 31, driven by strong bookings in suburban areas. Its shares closed up $10.41, or 6.1%, at $180.07, and rose in after-hours trading. Marriott International shares rose $9.87, or 5.8%, to $181.20 after the hotelier reported that its fourth-quarter revenue doubled. Nasdaq-listed Tower Semiconductor rose 42% after reports that Intel was close to buying the Israeli chip company for nearly $6 billion.

Signs of relief in the Ukraine crisis entailed a recovery on the East Asian stock markets on Wednesday. The biggest gain was in Tokyo, where the Nikkei-225 rose by 2.2 per cent to 27,463 points. The Shanghai Composite increased by 0.6 per cent, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong by 1.2 per cent. In Seoul, the Kospi advanced 2.0 per cent. In Seoul, SK Hynix was up 3.5 per cent after the group announced a new chip development. In its wake, Samsung Electronics gained 1.4 per cent. Meanwhile NCSoft fell 4.7 per cent after the online game developer released weak fourth quarter figures. The region's oil stocks were slipping. Shares in Inpex dropped 3.7 per cent in Tokyo and Woodside Petroleum was down 0.5 per cent in Sydney.

On Tuesday, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its highest level in well over two years on Tuesday, as tensions between Russia and the Ukraine eased and many investors shifted back into risk-on mode. Yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes rose to 2.054%, the highest settle value since July 2019. The two-year yield, on the other hand, fell by 1 basis point. The yield on the German Bund with the same maturity was 0.313%, compared with 0.282% on Monday evening.

Jefferies lowers Clariant to Hold (Buy) - Target CHF 18 (23)

Citi cuts Capgemini target to EUR 230 (235) - Buy

Jefferies raises Michelin target to EUR 162 (154) - Buy

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