Shares of insurer Alleghany Corp. soared $167.85, or 25%, to $844.60 after Berkshire Hathaway said it agreed to buy the company for about $11.6 billion in cash, as billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle puts some of its massive cash pile to work in a deal that bolsters its insurance arm. Berkshire said it will pay $848.02 a share in cash for Alleghany, a 25.3% premium to Friday’s closing price of $676.75 and a multiple of 1.26 times the New York company’s book value at the end of 2021. Mr. Buffett’s company, which also holds a giant stock portfolio and an array of railroad, energy and consumer businesses, didn’t make any large acquisitions in 2021 and ended the year with $146.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term Treasury bills. Alleghany is best known for its core property and casualty insurance businesses but has also accumulated a diverse group of increasingly profitable noninsurance divisions and has been likened to a mini Berkshire.

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The SMI fell by 0.1 per cent to 12,171 points on Monday. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 12 price gainers and eight price losers. 32.65 (previously: 107.69) million shares were traded. Switzerland has joined the latest EU sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war, banning exports of luxury goods to the country. The ban could hit individual companies hard, the Swiss government acknowledged on Friday. Shares in Richemont (-2.1%) and Swatch (-0.8%) slipped. Nestle shares lost 0.5 per cent. The consumer goods company has significantly scaled back its business in Russia and is not recording a profit there. Julius Baer (+0.6%) is no longer taking on new clients in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. The private bank quantified the net asset value of its Moscow-based subsidiary at 400,000 francs as of the end of 2021. The collateral value of the Russian assets was reduced to zero in February and no credit losses have been incurred so far.

European stocks were flat to begin the new week and oil prices moved higher as investors continue to watch updates on the Russia-Ukraine war. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.04% to 454.8 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gave up 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was down 0.6%, while in London the FTSE 100 gained 0.5%. Commodity-related stocks were buoyed by rising oil prices. Eramet increased by 9.4%, CGG 6.7% and Vallourec 4.3%. Satellite operator SES (+5.5%) signed an agreement to accelerate US telecoms operator Verizon's access to C-band, a frequency spectrum needed for the deployment of 5G in the US. Renault (-0.5%) resumed production on Monday at its Moscow site, which has been shut down since 28 February, but its Russian subsidiary AvtoVAZ announced that it would have to interrupt some production lines this week due to problems with the delivery of electronic components. German software company SAP (-1.7% in Frankfurt) announced on Friday evening that its chief financial officer, Luka Mucic, would leave the company on 31 March 2023. Boeing loses 3.8% on Wall Street after China Eastern Airlines crashes its 737 in southern China. In Paris, the engine manufacturer Safran lost 2.8%.

Investors sold stocks and government bonds after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s commitment to controlling inflation through a rapid series of interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 edged lower by 1.94 points, or less than 0.1%, to close Monday at 4461.18 following comments from Mr. Powell about the possibility of more-aggressive interest-rate moves to tame inflation. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index lost 55.38 points, or 0.4%, to 13838.46, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 201.94 points, or 0.6%, to 34552.99. Major U.S. stock indexes on Friday finished their best week since November 2020. Boeing shares fell $6.93, or 3.6%, to $185.90 after a Boeing 737 passenger plane operated by China Eastern Airlines carrying more than 130 people crashed in southern China. The Ukraine war has heightened volatility in stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies as investors try to assess the economic impact of sanctions and the potential for disruptions to supply chains. Investors are monitoring developments out of the region and whether a resolution can be soon found. In individual stocks, Shares of Nielsen Holdings dropped $1.68, or 6.9%, to $22.76 after it rejected a roughly $9 billion takeover offer from a private-equity consortium, saying that the offer undervalued the TV-ratings company. Brent-crude futures, the international benchmark, added $7.69 a barrel, or 7.1%, to $115.62. West Texas Intermediate futures, their U.S. counterpart, were up $7.42 a barrel, or 7.1%, to $112.12. Thus, Occidental Petroleum rose $4.72, or 8.4%, to $60.96; Hess added $6.44, or 6.6%, to $103.85 and Exxon Mobil gained $3.53, or 4.5%, to $82.20. Apple (+0.9%) suffered a computer breakdown on Monday, which was resolved during the day after interrupting access to the group's online services. The App Store, Apple Music and Apple TV+ were among more than 20 services that were temporarily unavailable on Monday. Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire business planning software company Anaplan (+28%) for $10.7 billion in a leveraged buyout. Kohl's (-0.6%) confirmed on Monday that it had received preliminary expressions of interest from several potential buyers. Last week, Sycamore Partners and Hudson's Bay Company, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, were preparing to make an offer of just under $70 per share. The retailer said in February that it had reviewed and rejected expressions of interest after receiving an offer of $64 per share from Acacia Research.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Tuesday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 1.4 per cent after the long holiday break. Mitsubishi UFJ is up 4.7 per cent and Tokyo Marine Holdings is up 5.5 per cent. In Hong Kong, where the HSI advances 1.2 per cent, property stocks recover. While Evergrande shares are yet to resume trading, Country Garden Holdings is up 6.3 per cent. Longfor is up 1.6 per cent. Meanwhile, in the technology sector, Alibaba advances 5.2 per cent. The company has expanded the scope of its share buyback to 25 billion dollars. The figures of Hong Kong & China Gas (-14.2 per cent) are greeted with disappointment. Oil sector stocks are sought after: Inpex rises by 8.7 per cent in Japan, the share price of Mitsubishi Corp, a trading company active in commodity trading, climbs by 7 per cent. CNOOC in Hong Kong is up 4.8 per cent.

U.S. treasurys sold off sharply Monday, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note decisively above the 2.30% threshold as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that policy makers were willing to boost rates in half-point increments if needed to get inflation under control. The ten-year US Treasury bond yield jumped 15 basis points to 2.298%. The two-year yield rose 17 basis points to 2.115% from 2.153% late Friday.

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