Bayer doesn’t plan to pursue a split into separate units for now, Chief Executive Bill Anderson said. “On the question of the company’s structure and a possible breakup of the group, our answer is ‘not now’—and this shouldn’t be misunderstood as ‘never’,” Anderson said Tuesday. The German pharmaceutical and agricultural conglomerate has been looking into various options for the group as it seeks to cut debt and boost its beleaguered share price. Bayer has been under pressure from investors to split itself up as its three units—crop science, consumer health and pharmaceuticals—are diverse. The company is one of few remaining groups to house both pharmaceutical and consumer-health assets under the same roof. Rather than split itself up through a spinoff, Bayer has decided to spend the next 24 to 36 months focusing on building a strong pharmaceuticals pipeline, addressing litigation, reducing debt, and continuing to implement its new operating model to improve performance, it said. “We will keep an open mind,” Anderson said. “Given the company’s very limited room to maneuver, our priority is on tackling our challenges, boosting performance and creating strategic flexibility.”

The Switzerland market ended marginally down on Tuesday after a choppy session as investors refrained from making significant moves ahead of crucial economic events in the U.S. and Europe. The benchmark SMI, which moved between 11,447.89 and 11,504.02, ended with a loss of 14.06 points or 0.12% at 11,463.74. Kuehne & Nagel ended nearly 2% down. Lonza Group and Partners Group both settled lower by about 1.75%. Logitech International drifted down 1.59%. Sika, ABB, Alcon, Holcim, Richemont and Geberit ended lower by 0.6 to 1.2%. Zurich Insurance Group gained 1.01%. Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding, Roche Holding, UBS Group and Novartis lost 0.4 to 0.6%. In the Mid Price Index, VAT Group dropped nearly 6%. Meyer Burger Tech and Sandoz both ended down by about 4.8%. Clariant ended down 2.7%. Schindler Ps, Schindler Holding, Ems Chemie Holding and Galenica Sante also ended notably lower. SGS and BKW gained 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively. SIG Combibloc, Adecco and ams OSRAM AG advanced 1.2 to 1.6%.

Europe
European stocks closed lower on Tuesday as concerns about the outlook for global economic growth amid disappointment from the lack of fresh stimulus from China and uncertainty about the timeline for interest rate cuts rendered the mood cautious. Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data from Europe and U.S., in addition to reacting to earnings updates. Investors are also looking ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony this week, the U.K.'s budget, and the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.23%. Germany's DAX edged down 0.1% and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.3%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 crept up 0.08%. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.12%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak. Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher, while Austria closed flat. In the UK market, Ashtead tanked more than 9% after the company said its full-year group revenues will likely expand at the low end of its guidance. Antofagasta, RS Group, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Croda International, Prudential, Scottish Mortgage, Rentokil Initial, The Sage Group, Rio Tinto and Barratt Developments lost 1 to 4%. Intertek rallied 6%. Endeavour Mining, Marks & Spencer, Fresnillo and SSE gained 2 to 5%. Weir Holdings, National Grid, Glencore, BAE Systems, Compass Group and Convatec Group also ended notably higher. In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care soared 11%. Fresenius gained about 3.5%. RWE ended nearly 3% u. E.ON, Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines, Hannover Rueck and Qiagen also ended notably higher. In Paris, Alstom, Dassault Systemes, Capgemini, Schneider Electric, ArcelorMittal, Hermes International, Saint Gobain, Unibail Rodamco, LVMH, Kering, L'Oreal, Renault and STMicroElectronics lost 1 to 3.4%.

United States
Following the modest pullback seen during the previous session, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop. The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 267.92 points or 1.7 percent to 15,939.59, the S&P 500 tumbled 52.30 points or 1.0 percent to 5,078.65 and the Dow slumped 404.64 points or 1.0 percent to 38,585.19. The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to record closing highs last Friday. Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. The ISM said its services PMI fell to 52.6 in February after climbing to 53.4 in January. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 53.0. Software stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 3.4 percent nosedive by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down. Among software stocks, GitLab (GTLB) plummeted by 21.0 percent after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results but provided disappointing guidance. Significant weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Asia
In a lacklustre trading session, the indices on the East Asian and Australian stock exchanges showed a mixed performance within narrow limits on Tuesday. The HSI in Hong Kong is up 0.5 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite is up 0.1 per cent. Tokyo is treading water, with the Nikkei 225 almost unchanged at 40,109 points.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved notably higher, more than offsetting the pullback seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 8.2 basis points to 4.137 percent.

Analysis
HSBC raises BASF target to EUR 44 (42) – Hold
UBS lowers Air France-KLM to EUR 19.60 (21.50) – Buy
UBS lowers Aixtron to EUR 24.60 (26.90) – Sell

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