Dell Technologies lifted its full fiscal year revenue outlook by $25 billion as demand for the company’s servers propelled its revenue to a record high in the second quarter. The technology company on Tuesday said it now expects to bring in $192 billion in revenue in the current fiscal year, up from the midpoint of its previous guidance, which was $167 billion plus or minus $2 billion, and ahead of analyst expectations of $174.05 billion, according to FactSet. The outlook includes $74 billion of revenue from AI-optimized servers, up from a previous view of $60 billion and representing threefold year-over-year growth. Dell also forecast adjusted earnings of $25.50 a share, up from its prior view of $17.90 a share and ahead of expectations of $18.99 a share. The boost to guidance came as the company reported a more than threefold increase in its second-quarter profit, driven by demand for artificial-intelligence infrastructure. Dell’s net income was $4.13 billion, or $6.34 a share, in the quarter ended July 31, compared with $1.16 billion, or $1.70 a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $7.04 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $4.91 a share.

The Swiss market closed on a positive note on Tuesday despite struggling for direction for much of the day's session. Geopolitical tensions, high oil prices and concerns about the outlook for interest rates and global economic growth rendered the mood cautious, but data showing strong retail sales in the month of July aided sentiment a bit. The benchmark SMI, which slipped into negative territory around mid-morning, moved above the flat line about a couple of hours past noon and then managed to stay positive thereafter to eventually settle at 14,334.79 with a gain of 48.36 points or 0.34%. Novartis moved up 6.25%, contributing significantly to market's positive close. The stock gained, lifted by positive results from a trial of the drugmaker's remibrutinib multiple sclerosis drug. Novartis said the drug helped lower relapse rates and reduced adverse effects. Straumann Holding climbed 3.71%, while Sandoz Group and Holcim gained 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively. Sonova, Swiss Re and Zurich Insurance posted moderate gains. Partners Group ended down by 7.3% on weak earnings. Partners Group said its first-half profit attributable to owners of the company decreased to 502.1 million Swiss francs from 578.2 million Swiss francs in the prior year. Earnings per share were 19.48 Swiss francs versus 22.13 Swiss francs last year.

Europe
European stocks closed weak on Tuesday, weighed down by concerns about inflation and interest rates as oil prices climbed higher and bond yields rose amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the U.S. Weak German retail sales data and a report showing an acceleration in Eurozone inflation hurt as well. The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.84%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 1.12% down, Germany's DAX ended with a loss of 1.26% and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.53%. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.34% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak. Portugal ended higher, while Belgium, Czech Republic and Russia closed flat. In the UK market, miners were among the major losers. Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta and Fresnillo lost 5.4%, 5.2% and 4.9%, respectively. Anglo American Plc ended down 3.7% and Rio Tinto closed lower by 1.2%, while Glencore settled with a modest gain of 0.25%. Weir, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Autotrader Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Melrose Industries, ICG, IAG, JD Sports Fashion, Babcock International, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Whitbread, Computacenter, Croda International, Aberdeen Group and Spirax Group lost 2.8%-5%. Barclays shed about 2.1%. WPP drifted lower after announcing plans to eliminate upto 1,000 additional positions by the end of the year. Ashtead Technology Holdings dropped more than 4% after the subsea equipment rental specialist reported a 7 percent fall in first-half EBITA earnings. Energy stocks BP and Shell moved up 5.2% and 2.7%, respectively, riding on higher oil prices.

United States
U.S. stocks fell for the third straight session as military strikes around the Strait of Hormuz caused a spike in oil futures and bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 419.02 points, or 0.79%, to 52766.88. The S&P 500 shed 54.67 points, or 0.71%, to 7631.47 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 271.11 points, or 1.03%, to 26099.77. Shares of major fuel consumers such as cruise lines and airlines fell sharply. After losses in recent sessions Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line have each fallen by more than 30% from their 2026 highs. Growth statistics continue to point to an economy that's chugging along as the data-center boom offsets slowing activity in the housing market and elsewhere. The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers index was 54.6 in August compared with 55.6 in July, as factory activity continued to expand, albeit at a slower rate. U.S. job openings improved while hiring ticked down as job growth slowed in July, according to the Labor Department's monthly job openings and labor turnover survey. Nvidia shares fell 1.5% to $217.44 even after AI firm Anthropic signed a cloud-computing deal worth $35 billion with Lambda, a data-center hardware firm backed by the chip maker, with Nvidia itself holding the lease on the data center. While tech companies continue their AI investments, some retail investors are taking a step back. U.S. indexes of chip makers and some tech-oriented overseas stock markets such as Korea's Kospi are already in bear-market territory. Apple shares rose 2.6% to $325.13 as Chief Executive Tim Cook concluded 15 years as the company's leader, handing the reins to hardware executive John Ternus. A court fight between Apple and OpenAI about hardware trade secrets looks set to intensify.

Asia
The leading stock markets in South-East Asia are trading with sharp falls in some cases during late trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is down 2.9 per cent at 64,271 points – driven by losses in semiconductor stocks. SoftBank Group is down 4.1 per cent, Advantest is down 4.0 per cent and Tokyo Electron is down 4.5 per cent.

Bonds
The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year U.S. Treasury rose 0.044 percentage point to 4.392%, the highest close since January 2025. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 0.038 percentage point to 4.795%, also a 20-month high. The 30-year bond yield rose 0.018 percentage point to 5.266%, its fifth consecutive gain and within 5 basis points of 19-year highs.

Analysis
UBS raises Gurit to 49 (43) CHF – Buy
BoA lowers its target for Zurich Airport to 257 (269) CHF – Buy
BoA downgrades Barclays to Neutral (Buy) – Target 580 (615) GBp

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