By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- European stocks moved slightly lower on Tuesday, dragged down by disappointing earnings from Swiss banking giant UBS and wariness over an upcoming Federal Reserve policy decision.
At 0320 EST (0720 GMT), the pan-European STOXX 600 was trading down 0.06% to 425.98, while the DAX in Germany fell by 0.35% to 13,150, and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.41% to 6,216.8. The outlier was the FTSE 100 in the U.K., which jumped by 0.29% to 7,287.5.
Second quarter earnings are kicking into gear this week, with UBS leading off a round of major bank earnings. Investors will be parsing the results for signs that a weaker economy, higher interest rates, and the war in Ukraine are hitting their operations and outlooks.
UBS Group AG (SIX:UBSG) earnings did not provide much optimism, as the Swiss lender posted a smaller-than-expected 5% rise in net profit for the second quarter, sending shares tumbling by 6.50%. Investment bank revenues fell 14% during what CEO Ralph Hamers called one of the “most challenging” quarters for investors in the last decade.
Hamers added that the operating environment in the second half of the year "remains uncertain".
However, the key focus of the week remains on the Fed. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to hike by at least 75 basis points as it looks to tame galloping inflation.
The FOMC statement and accompanying press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also be studied carefully amid fears that these sharp interest rate rises will plunge the world’s largest economy and major global growth driver into recession.
Adding to the darkening economic picture in the U.S. was a profit warning from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) late Monday, with the retail giant saying customers have cut back on discretionary spending.
Back in Europe, one positive note was to be seen in the results from Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli AG N (SIX:LISN). The Swiss chocolate maker upped its sales guidance and unveiled a CHF 1B ($1.04B) share buyback plan after posting a 36% jump in first-half net profit.
Shares in the company surged by 3.28% to near the top of the STOXX 600 in early deal-making on Tuesday.
Oil prices rose Tuesday on increasing concerns over Europe’s energy supply after Russia announced a further reduction in the amount of natural gas pumped to the region, potentially encouraging a switch to crude.
Gazprom (MCX:GAZP), the Russian state-owned energy giant, stated Monday that supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would drop to just 20% of capacity, just days after restoring the output to some 40% of capacity after finishing scheduled maintenance work.
U.S. crude supply data from the American Petroleum Institute will be in focus later in the session.
By 03:45 AM EST, Crude Oil WTI Futures traded 2.0% higher at $98.63 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 2.02% to $102.21.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.28% to $1,723.90/oz, while EUR/USD edged higher to $1.0224.