ASM International reported higher-than-expected net profit for the last quarter of 2025, buoyed by stronger demand and a rebound in orders from its Chinese customers. The Dutch supplier of equipment for the semiconductor industry announced a drop in net profit to €166.1 million ($194.2 million), compared with €225.8 million a year earlier. This result exceeded analysts' forecasts of €141.2 million, according to estimates provided by Visible Alpha. Gross profit – a closely watched indicator for companies in the semiconductor sector – stood at €347.7 million, representing a margin of 49.8%. Analysts had forecast gross profit of £338.5 million, according to the same consensus. By way of comparison, the result for the fourth quarter of the previous financial year was £407.2 million, representing a margin of 50.3%.

Switzerland's equity index SMI fell sharply on Tuesday, as escalating tensions in the Middle East continued to rattle global financial markets. The index, which stayed in negative territory right through the day's trading, settled with a loss of 429.17 points or 3.1% at 13,404.93, off the session's low of 13,348.37. Zurich Insurance fell 6.7%. ABB, Helvetia Baloise Holding, Swiss Life Holding, Richemont and Swiss Re ended lower by 4%-5%. Sika, UBS Group, Givaudan, Sandoz Group, Geberit, SGS, Holcim, Amrize, Lindt & Spruengli, Novartis, Schindler Ps, Partners Group, Galderma Group, Julius Baer, Nestle, Lonza Group, Alcon and Roche Holding lost 2%-4%. Kuehne + Nagel bucked the trend and posted a modest gain of about 0.5%.

Europe
European stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, pushing down several indices to multi-week or multi-month lows, as investors continued to move away from riskier assets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Bank stocks tumbled again. Shares of airliners suffered another setback following several airlines announcing cancellation of diversion of their flights. The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 3.48%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 2.75%, Germany's DAX drifted down 3.44% and France's CAC 40 declined 3.45%, while Switzerland's SMI slid 3.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye tumbled, with several markets losing between 3% and 6%. In the UK market, Intertek tanked 18.1% despite reporting higher earnings for financial year 2025. DCC, Endeavour Mining, Persimmon, Antofagasta, IAG, Fresnillo, Metlen Energy & Metals, HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, EasyJet, Anglo American Plc, Croda International, Rolls Royce Holdings, M&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Unilever, Barclays, British American Tobacco, Rio Tinto and Melrose Industries lost 3%-6%. Industrial engineering company Smiths Group declined sharply after the company said that it had agreed to acquire DRC Heat Transfer (DRC) for a purchase price of £164m. Smith & Nephew gained 3.6%. BP, The Sage Group, Relx, Pearson and Babcock International posted moderate gains. In the German market, Beirsdorf plunged 19.8% following the company flagging a softer 2026 outlook citing cost and foreign exchange pressures

United States
After another sell-off at the start of trading on Tuesday, stocks once again staged a recovery attempt but did have as much success as Monday and still ended the day notably lower. While the major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, they remained firmly in negative territory. The Dow ended the day down 403.51 points or 0.8 percent at 48,502.27 after plummeting by more than 1,200 points to its lowest intraday level in almost three months. The Nasdaq slumped 232.17 points or 1.0 percent to 22,516.69 and the S&P 500 slid 64.99 points or 0.9 percent to 6,816.63. The indexes had plunged by as much as 2.7 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, hitting three-month lows. The early nosedive on Wall Street came amid concerns about the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. As the conflict entered its fourth day, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the war may last four to five weeks but could 'go far longer than that.' Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also offered few details about the duration of the operation against Iran but claimed it will not be 'endless,' framing the conflict as a 'generational' chance to reshape the Middle East. Despite the recovery attempt by the broader markets, gold stocks continued to see substantial weakness amid a sharp pullback by the price of the precious metal. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeted by 8.0 percent, pulling back further off the record closing high set last Friday. Significant weakness also remained visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.6 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Steel, computer hardware, networking and oil service stocks also saw considerable weakness, while software stocks bucked the downtrend.

Asia
In the middle of the week, the ongoing attacks by the US and Israel against Iran are also causing massive selling pressure on the East Asian stock markets. Once again, it is the Kospi in Seoul that tops the list of losers with a decline of 10.6 per cent. At one point, the decline had already reached 12 per cent. Trading was also briefly suspended on the reporting day due to the heavy losses. Last week, the Kospi had still been at a record high – since then, the index has lost more than 16 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries climbed well off their worst levels but still ended the day slightly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by nearly a basis point to 4.056 percent after reaching a high of 4.117 percent.

Analysis
UBS raises H&M to SEK 183 (171) – Neutral
UBS raises HSBC to 1,404 (1,309) p – Neutral
UBS lowers Flatexdegiro to EUR 45.50 (46.50) – Buy

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