Amazon.com is buying satellite operator Globalstar in a deal the companies estimated at about $10.8 billion, seeking to build a business connecting consumer smartphones with satellite internet connections. The deal would give Amazon’s Leo satellite venture a boost as it vies with SpaceX’s dominant Starlink network. The Elon Musk -controlled satellite business has been launching satellites designed to connect consumer devices and signing agreements with mobile carriers. A big factor in the deal is Globalstar’s control over spectrum resources, which Amazon could use to provide satellite links to smartphones. Those wireless assets would enable a plan from Amazon to deploy its own direct-to-device satellite fleet beginning in 2028, subject to telecom regulators’ approval. Amazon’s Leo has more than 200 satellites so far, and the company has secured permission to deploy more than 7,000 broadband satellites. Amazon didn’t specify Tuesday how many direct-to-device satellites it plans to launch over time.

After a flat start, Swiss stocks moved higher and then stayed firm right through the day's session to end on a bright note on Tuesday. The mood in the market remained positive amid optimism about U.S. and Iran holding a fresh round of talks later this week to resolve their conflict. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 123.86 points or 0.94% at 13,269.77 almost near the day's high. Sika, the top gainer in the SMI index, soared nearly 8% after the company's sales in the first quarter beat expectations. Givaudan gained about 2.7%. The maker of flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic ingredients, reported a 5.2% drop in its first-quarter sales with weak performance in both segments, mainly Taste & Wellbeing. Regarding the mid and long term ambitions, its 2030 strategy, the firm projects 4% to 6% average like-for-like or LFL sales growth and over 12% average free cash flow over the five-year period. Amrize, Straumann Holding, Sandoz Group, Lonza Group, Richemont, Alcon and Logitech International gained 2%-2.7%. Kuehne + Nagel, SGS, Nestle, Partners Group, Sonova, UBS Group, Swiss Life Holding and Julius Baer also posted strong gains. Swiss Re ended down by about 3.1%. Galderma Group shed nearly 1%, while Novartis ended down by 0.3%.

Europe
European stocks closed on a positive note on Tuesday amid hopes the United States and Iran will try and resolve their conflict during a fresh round of negotiations likely to take place later in the week. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.99%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.25%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 1.27% and 1.12%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.94% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed with strong gains. Netherlands and Russia ended moderately higher, and Finland settled modestly up. Norway ended weak, while Portugal closed flat. In the UK market, Intertek Group zoomed nearly 13% after launching a strategic review that could see it split its business, while maintaining its annual outlook. The company posted a revenue of GBP 838.5 million in the three month ended March 2026, higher than GBP 808.9 million in the same period last year.
Metlen Energy & Metals, Fresnillo, Convatec Group, Rentokil Initial, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Halma, IAG and Burberry Group gained 3%-5%. Imperial Brands ended nearly 5% down. The British tobacco company has warned of increased losses from its NGPs due to increased investment in building both scale and market share. Tesco, British American Tobacco, Shell, BP, Airtel Africa, Berkeley Group Holdings, Bunzl and Unilever closed down by 1%-3%. In the German market, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, Infineon, MTU Aero Engines, Merck, Volkswagen, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Symrise, Porsche Automobil Holding, Continental and Heidelberg Materials gained 2%-4%. BASF, BMW, Brenntag, Daimler Truck Holding, Deutsche Telekom and Rheinmetall lost 1%-2%. In the French market, Eurofins Scientific surged more than 5.5%. The testing and laboratory services provider has signed an agreement to sell its electrical and electronic testing unit to UL Solutions. Teleperformance rallied 5.8%. EssilorLuxottica gained nearly 4%, while Stellantis moved up 3.2%. Saint Gobain, Kering, Schneider Electric, Societe Generale, STMicroelectronics, Bureau Veritas, Accor, Veolia Environment, Safran, ArcelorMittal, Capgemini, Pernod Ricard, Sanofi and Unibail Rodamco gained 2%-3%.

United States
Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Tuesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the course of Monday's session. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge. The major averages ended the day at or near their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 455.35 points or 2 percent to 23,639.08, the S&P 500 jumped 81.14 points or 1.2 percent to 6,967.38 and the Dow climbed 317.74 points or 0.7 percent to 48,535.99. With the extended rally, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over two months, while the Dow hit a one-month closing high. The continued strength on Wall Street came amid optimism about a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran over ending the Middle East conflict. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.S. has been contacted by Iran about resuming peace talks and claimed, 'They'd like to make a deal very badly.' Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 5.1 percent. Significant strength was also visible among brokerage stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index. Biotechnology, retail and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength, while energy stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of crude oil.

Asia
Further falls in oil prices and another strong performance on Wall Street the previous day are keeping investors in East Asian stock markets in a buying mood on Wednesday. In Tokyo and Hong Kong, the respective technology sector indices are up 1.4 and 1.7 per cent. Among the stock indices, the technology-heavy Kospi in Seoul is once again the high-flyer, jumping 2.9 per cent. It is now just over 3 per cent away from its record high set at the start of the year.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved notably higher over the course of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.1 basis points to a nearly one-month closing low of 4.256 percent.

Analysis
Barclays downgrades Forvia to EUR 14 (18) – Overweight
Barclays upgrades Michelin to Equalweight (Underweight) – EUR 30 (25)
UBS upgrades Eon to EUR 19.50 (17) – Neutral

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