NextEra Energy agreed to buy Dominion Energy in a roughly $67 billion deal that would create the largest U.S. electricity producer and represent one of the biggest tie-ups of the year. The companies said Monday that they plan to combine in a mostly stock deal. NextEra is offering the equivalent of around $76 a share to Dominion shareholders, based on Friday’s closing stock prices. In addition, they will receive a one-time cash payment of $360 million once the deal closes, the companies said. Dominion Energy shares surged 12% to $68.88 shortly after the opening bell, while NextEra dropped 4% to $89.51. In the deal, NextEra is offering 0.8138 of its shares for each Dominion share. The tie-up would combine two of the largest U.S. utilities into an East Coast energy titan with 10 million customer accounts in Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia. It is expected to close within the next 18 months and would require approval from a handful of state and federal regulators. It comes as the utility industry faces a big upswing in customer demand for the first time in decades, much of it driven by the mania over artificial intelligence and the build-out of data centers that require an insatiable amount of electricity. Access to power has become a key hurdle in the race to build data centers quickly.

After opening weak and languishing in negative territory for much of the afternoon, the Swiss market found some support and managed to end marginally up on Monday. The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 13,099.56 in early trades, climbed to 13,312.12 before settling at 13,240.70, up 20.53 points or 0.16% from previous close. Sonova, up nearly 8%, contributed significantly to market's positive close. The stock gained as the company forecast higher sales and earnings for its 2026-27 financial year. Swiss Re and Alcon both gained nearly 2%. Givaudan, Lindt & Spruengli, Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance, Straumann Holding and Helvetia Baloise Holding moved up 1%-1.7%. Logitech International, UBS Group, Sika, SGS, Swisscom, Partners Group and Novartis also closed higher. Galderma Group, Holcim and VAT Group closed lower by 1.9%-2.2%. Schindler Ps, Sandoz Group and Kuehne + Nagel also ended weak. In economic news, flash estimate from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Switzerland's economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter, expanding 0.5% in the first quarter from the previous quarter. This was faster than the 0.2% growth posted in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Europe
European stocks started off on a weak note on Monday but recovered and gained in strength as the day progressed after Iran said it had responded to a fresh proposal from the U.S. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.54%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 1.26%, Germany's DAX ended 1.49% up, and France's CAC 40 settled with a gain of 0.44%. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.16%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Türkiye closed weak. In the UK market, Centrica climbed more than 4%. National Grid moved up 3.7%, while Pearson, Relx and SSE gained 3.2%-3.4%. Shell gained about 3% and BP moved up 2.7%, as oil prices rose amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Bunzl, IAG, Tesco, IG Group, Babcock International, BT Group, Imperial Brands, Associated British Foods, Sainsbury (J), Autotrader Group, Compass Group, Admiral Group and Experian gained 2%-3%. 3i Group ended down nearly 6%. Airtel Africa drifted down 4.7%. Mondi ended lower by about 2.2%. Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma and Intertek Group lost 1%-2%. Anglo American Plc also ended weak. The mining giant has agreed to sell its coal mining operation in Australia to privately-owned Dhilmar for $3.88bn. In the German market, Deutsche Boerse climbed 4.7%. Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom also moved up more than 4%. SAP, Fresenius Medical Care, Symrise, Munich RE, RWE, Hannover RE, Henkel, Allianz, Infineon and Zalando also ended sharply higher.

United States
Following the sharp pullback seen during last Friday's session, stocks saw continued weakness throughout much of the trading day on Monday but managed to regain some ground going into the end of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory. While the Dow climbed 159.95 points or 0.3 percent to 49,686.12, the S&P 500 edged down 5.45 points or 0.1percent to 7,403.05 and the Nasdaq slid 134.41 points or 0.5 percent to 26,090.73. The early weakness on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the conflict in the Middle East, as President Donald Trump has warned Iran the 'clock is ticking.' Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Iran 'better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them,' leading to worries about the U.S. renewing military action. Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 2.5 percent. Considerable weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. On the other hand, oil service stocks showed a substantial move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 3.4 percent. Oil producer, telecom and commercial real estate stocks also saw notable strength, helping limit the downside for the markets.

Asia
Trading on East Asian stock markets has been mixed so far on Tuesday. The weakness in technology shares is particularly noticeable on the Seoul stock exchange, where the Kospi has fallen by 2.9 per cent, having already dropped by over 5 per cent earlier in the day. Profit-taking is likely to be a factor here as well. The heavily technology-weighted index is still up by over 70 per cent since the start of the year.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the session after seeing early strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 2.8 basis points to a one-year closing high of 4.623 percent.

Analysis
HSBC upgrades Repsol to Buy (Hold) – Target price EUR 25.50 (22)
HSBC upgrades Shell to Buy (Hold) –Target price 3,700 (3,350) GBp
Berenberg raises Centrica target to 230 (190) GBp – Buy

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