Corporate results:

  • Aviva: The group believes it is on track to meet its targets.
  • Burberry: Results are up, but the situation in China is a concern.
  • Mitchells & Butler: pub owner warns that rising costs will weigh.
  • Target - The retailer's stock fell 25% this morning after announcing a quarterly profit cut in half by rising prices and a warning of the risk of a further deterioration of margins. Consumers staples companies such as Best Buy and Costco are down in its wake.
  • Lowe's Companies - The No. 2 U.S. home improvement retailer behind Home Depot reported a larger-than-expected 4 percent decline in same-store sales in the first quarter of its fiscal year on Wednesday and reaffirmed its annual forecast, while Home Depot raised its forecast Tuesday.

 

In other news:

  • New car registrations fall 20% in April due to supply problems.
  • Siemens Energy may delist Siemens Gamesa soon, according to Bloomberg.
  • Unicredit and Commerzbank are said to have discussed a merger in early 2022, before giving up, according to the Financial Times.
  • After the warning on its results, Walmart falls by 11.4% at the close, strong annual plunge since 1987.
  • Netflix is laying off employees to cope with slowing growth.
  • JPMorgan Chase shareholders only support 31% of Chairman Jamie Dimon's compensation. Intel shareholders did the same the week before.
  • Facebook (Meta Platforms) celebrates 10 years on the stock market.
  • SIG Group raises 204 M€.
  • Sika opens a new plant in Bolivia.
  • Vetropack cuts jobs in Ukraine.
  • The Boeing Company - Investigators looking into the cause of the crash of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 in March are studying the crew's behavior and have no evidence of a technical malfunction, two sources close to the case said.
  • Microsoft will review its licensing terms and encourage more competition from other cloud providers to address complaints about its cloud services, company chairman Brad Smith said Wednesday at a conference in Brussels.
  • McDonald's - After ISS, investor advisory firm Glass Lewis recommended Tuesday that McDonald's shareholders vote for the directors put forward by the group at the annual meeting, a setback for activist investor Carl Icahn, who is seeking to have two candidates elected to the board.
  • Caterpillar - The earthmoving and construction equipment specialist believes the energy transition can be a growth driver for its mining business, Chief Executive Jim Umpleby said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.
  • Wynn Resorts - The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Steve Wynn, the casino group's former chief executive, to force him to officially register as an agent of China and accuses him of lobbying on behalf of Beijing in 2017 with then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

Main earnings reports today: Tencent, Cisco, Lowe's, Target, Analog Devices, Experian, Aviva, Hal Trust, ABN Amro, Elia, Burberry, Rockwool, Vallourec...