Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn has stepped down after more than four years in the role, where he worked behind the scenes to translate Elon Musk’s ambitions into reality. The electric-car maker said Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja had been appointed as CFO on Aug. 4, when the 38-year-old Kirkhorn left the position. His surprise move comes ahead of Tesla’s Cybertruck pickup coming to market later this year and raises questions about succession planning for Musk, who is 52 years old and runs several companies, including SpaceX and X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter. Tesla has no clear second-in-command, but board members had discussed Kirkhorn as a possible successor to Musk as CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.

The Swiss stock market ended flat on Monday after a choppy session, as investors largely stayed cautious, looking ahead to some crucial economic data, including U.S. inflation report, due later in the week. The benchmark SMI ended with a small gain of 8.99 points or 0.08% at 11,107.47 after moving between 11,058.52 and 11,118.90. Swiss Life Holding, Novartis, UBS Group and Kuehne & Nagel gained 0.7 to 1%. Zurich Insurance Group, Givaudan and Alcon posted modest gains. Sika declined 2.8%. Richemont shed 0.89%, while Logitech an Lonza Group lost 0.66% and 0.57%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, Tecan Group and Adecco climbed 1.37% and 1.05%, respectively. Helvetia, Baloise Holding, Schindler Ps, Julius Baer and Swiss Prime Site also ended higher. Meyer Burger Tech declined more than 2%. Belimo Holding ended lower by 1.63%, while AMS, DocMorris and VAT Group lost 0.9 to 1.1%.

The major European markets closed roughly flat on Monday after spending much of the day's session in negative territory amid concerns about the outlook for global economic growth, ahead of China's trade and inflation data, and the report on U.S. inflation. Investors also reacted to data showing a bigger than expected drop in Germany's industrial production in the month of June. Germany's industrial production posted a monthly fall of 1.5% in June, following a revised 0.1% drop in May, data from Destatis showed. Analysts had forecast output to decrease moderately by 0.5%. On a yearly basis, industrial production slid 1.7% in June after staying flat in May. The Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence improved to -18.9 in August from -22.5 in July. Analysts had expected a score of -23.4. Meanwhile, British house prices fell for a fourth straight month in July due to rising borrowing costs, data from mortgage lender Halifax showed. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.09%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.13% down, and Germany's DAX settled 0.01% down. France's CAC 40 ended 0.06% up, while Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.08%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher. Belgium, Norway, Poland and Russia ended weak, while Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden settled roughtly flat.

A climb in the shares of Berkshire Hathaway and other blue-chip companies led markets higher on Monday, helping Wall Street bounce back from a stretch of losses. The Omaha, Neb., company, which owns businesses including Geico and BNSF Railway, ended the session at a record stock price after swinging to a second-quarter profit. Berkshire's class B shares rose 3.6% to $362.58, marking their first new all-time high since March 2022 – when the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates. The climb helped lift the S&P 500 to a 0.9% daily gain, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 408 points, or 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite looked set for losses in early trading, dragged lower by Tesla shares that slid as much as 4.4% after the departure of longtime Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn. The electric-car maker finished 1% lower, and the tech-heavy index notched a 0.6% advance. Investors expect a fresh look at the prospect for rates from highly anticipated inflation data later this week. Inflation has slid toward the Fed's 2% target, but investors are leery that the final mile could prove tricky – encouraging policy makers to keep rates restrictive for months to come. Wage gains are outpacing inflation, and rebounding gas prices could boost headline figures. Thursday's consumer-price index will be followed by supplier inflation data the following day. Wall Street will also look to University of Michigan's consumer survey on Friday for signs that Americans' confidence has waned or their expectations for inflation in the years ahead have become unmoored from the Fed's target. Investors are hoping for signs that inflation is steadily easing to aid in recovering from last week's losses. Paramount Global added roughly 4% after the market closed Monday, building on its 2.9% gain during daily trading after the company said it agreed to sell publisher Simon & Schuster to KKR for $1.62 billion in cash.

The indices on the stock exchanges in East Asia and Australia are mostly little changed on Tuesday. The markets in the region are being supported by positive signals from Wall Street. Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo is up 0.2 per cent. The focus is on the balance sheet season. Japanese investors are betting on rising corporate profits due to the weaker yen.

The 10-year U.S. yield rose to 4.076% from 4.060% on Friday. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note closed Monday at 4.756% from 4.791%. Long-term yields have risen partly in anticipation of the U.S. government's heavy slate of bond sales this week. A strong reception from investors could support bond prices and temper yields' recent climb.

ING lowers Signify to Hold (Buy) – Target EUR 29 (43)
JP Morgan starts CTS Eventim with Overweight – Target EUR 77
UBS raises Lufthansa target to EUR 15 (14.25) – Buy

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