Chevron warned investors that Exxon Mobil and China’s Cnooc are asserting they have a right to pre-empt the company’s bid for a stake in a prolific oil project off Guyana, an emerging dispute that could derail Chevron’s megadeal for Hess. Chevron said in a regulatory filing that Exxon and Cnooc say they have the right to counter Chevron’s offer for Hess’s stake in the Guyana project, which Exxon operates and is one of the largest oil finds in years. Chevron warned investors it may not complete its purchase of Hess “within the time frame the company anticipates or at all.” Much of the value in Chevron’s $53 billion all-stock acquisition of Hess proposed last year was tied to the smaller New York oil company’s 30% stake in an Exxon-led drilling consortium in Guyanese waters. The partnership has expanded oil production far faster than most offshore oil projects and expects to pump over 1 million barrels a day in coming years.

After a weak start, the Swiss market emerged into positive territory around noon on Monday, but suffered a setback past mid afternoon and ended the day's session on a negative note. The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 11,524.36, ended with a loss of 43.88 points or 0.38% at 11,452.88. Roche Holding and Swiss Life Holding both ended down 1.4%. Geberit, Nestle, Sika and Sonova lost 0.9 to 1.1%. Swisscom, SwissRe, Lonza Group and Richemont ended modestly lower. Partners Group, Holcim, UBS Group and Kuehne & Nagel gained 1 to 1.25%. Givaudan, Logitech International and Zurich Insurance Group posted moderate gains. In the Mid Price Index, BKW dropped 3.79%. Tecan Group ended nearly 3% down, and Barry Callebaut settled lower by 2.2%. SIG Combibloc, SGS, Clariant, Lindt & Spruengli, Schindler Holding, Julius Baer, PSP Swiss Property and Schindler Ps lost 1 to 2%. Meyer Burger Tech soared more than 11%. ams OSRAM AG rallied 3.3%, while Straumann Holding, Temenos Group and Georg Fischer gained 0.75 to 1%.

European stocks closed broadly lower on Monday, giving up recent gains, as investors stayed cautious ahead of some crucial U.S. and European economic data. Inflation reports from Germany, France and Spain along with the U.S. Federal Reserve's favored core measure of personal consumption expenditure prices are due on Thursday. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.37%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.29% and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.46%. Germany's DAX edged up 0.02%, while Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.38%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak. Iceland and Russia closed on a firm note, while Greece, Norway, Spain and Sweden ended flat. In the UK market, Ocado Group dropped about 7%. St. James's Place ended nearly 4% down, while Anglo American Plc, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Taylor Wimpey, Rio Tinto and Centrica lost 2.5 to 3.4%. Bunzl ended more down more than 2.5% after the company said it margins may be hit in the first quarter. The company also announced that is has signed an agreement to acquire Nisbets in the U.K. and Pamark in Finland. B&M European Value Retail, Glencore, Severn Trent, BT, SSE, Fresnillo and Antofagasta also ended notably lower. Rolls-Royce Holdings ended more than 2.5% up. Admiral Group, Beazley, Lloyds Banking Group, Convatec Group, Barclays, Rentokil Initial, Reckitt Benckiser and BAE Systems advanced 1 to 1.5%. In the German market, RWE, Merck, Zalando, Vonovia, Continental, Sartorius and Deutsche Post lost 1 to 1.7%. Fresenius Medical Care rallied more than 2.5%. HeidelbergCement, SAP and Siemens Healthineers gained 1.5 to 2%, while Fresenius, BMW, Symrise, Siemens Energy and Deutsche Boerse ended higher by 0.7 to 1.1%.

U.S. stocks ended on a negative note on Monday, and the major averages turned weak after a slightly positive start, as investors largely stayed cautious ahead of some key economic data, including a report on consumption expenditure. Among the major averages, the Dow ended lower by 62.30 points or 0.16 percent at 39,069.23. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 19.27 points or 0.38 percent at 5,069.53. The Nasdaq, which spent much of the day's session in positive territory despite a choppy ride, ended down 20.57 points or 0.13 percent at 15,976.25. The Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending, which is scheduled to be released on Thursday, includes a reading on consumer price inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The inflation data could have a notable impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Fed officials have said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates. Palo Alto Networks shares climbed more than 7 percent. Dominos Pizza surged nearly 6 percent after reporting stronger than expected quarterly earnings. Micron Technology, Tesla, Applied Materials, Illumina, Salesforce.com and Arista Networks gained 2 to 4 percent. Walmart, Marathon Petroleum, Marathon Oil, Qualcomm and Costco also posted strong gains. Berkshire Hathaway lost nearly 2 percent, despite the group posted an annual profit of $97 billion, its second straight record annual profit. Alphabet, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Whirlpool, Moderna, Verizon and Pfizer also ended sharply lower.

On Tuesday, the East Asian stock markets and the Sydney Stock Exchange continued to show no uniform direction. The Nikkei index in Tokyo is 0.2 per cent lower at 39,157 points after the record-breaking run of the previous days.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after moving notably higher last Friday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed to 4.277 percent.

UBS raises the Lloyds Banking target to 53 (50) GBp – Buy
UBS raises the Barclays target to 230 (200) GBp – Buy
Barclays raises the Inditex target to EUR 39 (34) – Equalweight

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