BP increased its buyback and posted higher-than-expected annual profit, joining other oil-and-gas giants in showing resilience despite volatile energy prices, although results still dropped from the prior-year’s record highs. The British energy major on Tuesday reported $13.84 billion in full-year underlying replacement cost profit—a similar metric to net income that U.S. oil companies report—down significantly from $27.65 billion in the year before when soaring energy demand supercharged prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The result, which edged above a consensus forecast of $13.83 billion compiled by Visible Alpha, was due to lower oil and gas realizations, portfolio changes, lower refining margins and lower oil trading, the company said. Oil majors have faced volatile energy prices during the year, especially in the fourth quarter, but strong gas trading and persistent demand for oil helped U.K. rival Shell and U.S. peers Exxon and Chevron to post healthy profits last week. Shell reported $20.28 billion, while Exxon and Chevron posted $36 billion and $21.37 billion, respectively.

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The Switzerland market ended weak on Tuesday, bucking the positive trend seen across Europe, with investors largely making cautious moves. The benchmark SMI, which slipped into negative territory after staying higher for a few minutes, stayed weak right till the end of the session, and ended with a loss of 29.44 points or 0.26% at 11,245.03. UBS Group ended down 4.44%. The lender reported a net loss of $279 million for the fourth-quarter, marking its second consecutive quarterly loss caused by costs of integrating collapsed rival Credit Suisse. UBS reported operating profit before tax of $592 million, below the consensus of $762 million. Nestle ended lower by 0.67%. Novartis, Partners Group and Zurich Insurance Group dropped 0.2 to 0.3%. Swiss Re advanced 2.15%. Alcon and Logitech International gained 1.61% and 1.5%, respectively. ABB, Geberit, Lonza Group and Holcim ended higher by about 0.7%. Givaudan gained 0.42%. In the Mid Price Index, Julius Baer dropped nearly 5%. Meyer Burger Tech ended down 4%, while BKW, Sandoz and Helvetia closed lower by 2.27%, 1.79% and 1.35%, respectively. Avolta rallied 3.18% and Flughafen Zurich gained 2.58%. Georg Fischer, Schindler Holding and SGS ended higher by 1.44%, 1.37% and 1.19%, respectively. Schindler Ps, Galenica Sante and Straumann Holding closed moderately higher.

European stocks closed on a firm note on Tuesday with investors digesting the latest batch of earnings and economic updates, and assessing the likely moves of major central banks with regard to interest rates. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.63%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.9%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.76% and France's CAC 40 ended 0.65% up, while Switzerland's SMI drifted down 0.26%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Belgium and Poland ended flat. In the UK market, BP rallied nearly 6% after the oil giant reported its second-highest annual profit in more than decade and announced a $1.75bn share buyback. Weir Holdings, Kingfisher, Prudential, JD Sports Fashion, Antofagasta, BAE Systems, Ashtead and Rollls-Royce Holdings gained 2.3 to 4%. HSBC Holdings, Barratt Developments, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Next, Anglo American Plc, Fresnillo, IMI, AstraZeneca, Marks & Spencer, St. James's Place, Natwest Group, Berkeley Holdings, Taylor Wimpey, Frasers Group and Spirax-Sarco Engineering also ended sharply higher. Pearson, Entain and BT lost 2.5 to 2.7%. Coca-Cola ended lower by about 1.4%, while GSK, National Grid and British American Tobacco lost 0.7 to 1%. In the German market, Qiagen surged 5.7%. Siemens Energy, Covestro and Bayer climbed 2.4 to 2.75%. Siemens Healthineers, Fresenius Medical Care, BASF, Zalando, Siemens, Sartorius, HeidelbergCement, MTU Aero Engines, Daimler Truck Holding and Mercedes-Benz gained 1.2 to 1.7%. Infineon shed about 3.1% after cutting its FY24 outlook. RWE drifted down 2.8%, while Deutsche Bank and Porsche ended lower by 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively. In Paris, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, Teleperformance, Airbus Group, Kering, Stellantis and Thales gained 1.5 to 2.5%. Essilor, Pernod Ricard, Safran, Saint Gobain, Legrand and Michelin also closed notably higher.

Following the significant volatility seen over the past few sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly higher. The Dow climbed 141.24 points or 0.4 percent to 38,521.36, the S&P 500 rose 11.42 points or 0.2 percent to 4,954.23 and the Nasdaq inched up 11.32 points or 0.1 percent to 15,609.00. The choppy trading on Wall Street came as some traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets the following recent volatility. Stocks fell sharply following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last Wednesday but rebounded to record highs over the following two sessions only to pullback sharply once again in early trading on Monday. Among individual stocks, shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR) skyrocketed by 30.8 percent after the data analytics provider reported better than expected fourth quarter revenues amid strong demand for its artificial intelligence offerings. Audio streaming service provider Spotify (SPOT) also jumped by 3.9 percent after reporting stronger than expected fourth quarter subscriber growth and providing upbeat guidance. On the other hand, shares of Rambus (RMBS) plunged by 19.2 percent after the chipmaker reported a year-over-year decline in fourth quarter revenue.

On the East Asian and Australian stock exchanges, a positive trend prevailed for the most part in late trading on Wednesday. Following the announcement of support purchases by state funds in China, investors are apparently counting on more support from the People's Republic. Reports are circulating that Chinese officials are said to have met with President Xi Jinping to discuss further supportive measures. The Chinese securities regulator wants to encourage more state-backed funds to buy on the local market.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries showed a significant rebound after moving sharply lower over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 7.4 basis points to 4.090 percent.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries showed a significant rebound after moving sharply lower over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 7.4 basis points to 4.090 percent.