Tesla Inc. has been fined 2.85 billion won ($2.2 million) by a South Korean regulator for allegedly misleading customers about its electric vehicles’ driving ranges. South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that the U.S. EV maker’s Korean units exaggerated the driving range of its vehicles and falsely promoted their estimated fuel-cost savings in local online advertisements. The Korea Fair Trade Commission also accused Tesla of unfairly charging a deposit to frustrate online-purchase cancellations. Tesla was told to correct the marketing practice, the commission added. Tesla wasn’t immediately available for comment on the South Korean penalty action. The commission said Tesla recently altered its misleading Korean-language advertisements, which had been online since 2019.

The Swiss market ended on an upbeat note on Tuesday, in line with markets across Europe, as investors chose to pick up stocks that had taken a severe beating in the final weeks of the previous year. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 249.24 points or 2.32% at 10,978.64. The index touched a low of 10,729.40 and a high of 11,004.46. Richemont surged 6.2% and Credit Suisse climbed nearly 5%. Swiss Re, UBS Group and Geberit gained 3.1 to 3.6%. Logitech, Novartis, Sika, ABB, Holcim, Swiss Life Holding and Partners Group rallied 2 to 2.8%, and Alcon gained nearly 2%. Swisscom, Lonza Group, Sonova, Givaudan, Nestle, Zurich Insurance Group and Roche Holding also ended notably higher. In the Mid Price Index, Zur Rose soared nearly 15%. AMS surged 7.5%, while Swatch Group, Temenos Group and Adecco gained 4.7 to 5.4%. Dufry, Flughafen Zurich, VAT Group, Georg Fischer, Julius Baer, Swiss Prime Site, Baloise Holding, Straumann Holding and Schindler Ps gained 2.5 to 3.4%.

European stocks closed on a firm note on Tuesday with investors indulging in some strong buying at several counters as they assessed the impact of China's decision to relax Covid-related restrictions, and reacted to the data showing a drop in Germany's consumer price inflation. After a firm start and a subsequent fall from higher levels, stocks mostly stayed in a range well above the flat line. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.22%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.37%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.8% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.44%, while Switzerland's SMI rallied 2.32%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate gains. Spain edged up marginally. Finland, Norway and Turkiye closed weak, while Portugal settled flat. In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Ocado Group, while Persimmon, Barratt Developments, Prudential, Whitbread and IAG gained 4 to 6%. Lloyds Banking Group, British Land, Sainsbury (J), CRH, Associated British Foods, Barclays Group, Land Securities, B&M European Value Retail, Taylor Wimpey, Standard Chartered, Berkeley Group Holdings, Halma and AstraZeneca also ended with strong gains. Centrica tumbled nearly 5%. SSE drifted down 2.8%, while Coca-Cola HBC, Beazley, Glencore, Haleon and Diageo lost 1 to 2%. In the German market, HelloFresh soared 9.5%. Brenntag rallied 5.7%. Adidas, Covestro, Qiagen, Zalando, Fresenius, Siemens Healthineers, Vonovia, E.ON, Merck and BASF gained 2 to 3.5%.

U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday to kick off the new year, pulled lower by investor favorites like Tesla and Apple. The S&P 500 fell 15.36 points, or 0.4%, to 3824.14. The index dropped 19% last year, its biggest decline since 2008, the year Lehman Brothers collapsed. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite dropped 79.50 points, or 0.8%, to 10386.98, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10.88 points, or less than 0.1%, to 33136.37. All three indexes opened the session higher before quickly giving up those gains. Six of the S&P 500's 11 sectors fell, with energy leading the decliners and the communication services and financials sectors among the bright spots. Among individual stocks, Tesla was a notable mover, dropping $15.08, or 12.2%, to $108.10, its largest percent decrease since Sept. 8, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The electric-vehicle maker fell short of its 2022 delivery target. Tesla stock suffered its worst-ever year in 2022, declining 65%. Apple shares declined $4.86, or 3.7%, to $125.07, pulling the iPhone maker's market value below $2 trillion for the first time since March 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data. AMC Entertainment, meanwhile, slipped 14 cents, or 3.4%, to $3.93 after rival Cineworld Group said it wasn't in talks with the theater chain regarding the sale of its cinema assets. AMC had said last month that it held discussions regarding a potential strategic acquisition of theaters from the bankrupt Cineworld.

Most of the stock exchanges in East Asia and also in Sydney rose sharply on Wednesday. Hong Kong once again stands out with a plus of 2.1 per cent, while Shanghai merely holds its ground, held back by continuing concerns about the high Corona infection figures. The Tokyo stock exchange was an exception. The Nikkei index lost 1.3 per cent to 25,768 points.

In U.S. bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked down to 3.791% from 3.826% Friday on signs of cooling inflation. Yields and prices move inversely.

JP Morgan lowers Tesla target to USD 125 (150) – Underweight
JP Morgan lowers Sartorius target to EUR 550 (570) – Overweight
JP Morgan cuts Bayer to Neutral (Overweight) – EUR 60 (77) target

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