After a difficult start to the year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise achieved better-than-expected results in the second quarter, thanks in particular to its cost-cutting program launched in March. The server and cloud services provider is now slightly more confident about its full-year earnings, but has revised its revenue forecasts downward. According to CFO Marie Myers, the business environment has stabilized. Macroeconomic uncertainty and trade policy weighed on demand at the beginning of the quarter. Since then, however, the climate has improved. HPE now expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1.78 and $1.90 for the full year, which the company attributes to the exceptions related to tariffs imposed by the US government. Previously, the lower limit was $1.70. Revenue growth of 7% to 9% is now targeted instead of 7% to 11%. The reason given for this correction is the unpredictability of certain contracts in the field of artificial intelligence. For the current third quarter, HPE expects adjusted earnings per share of between $0.40 and $0.45 and revenue of between $8.2 billion and $8.5 billion. Analysts currently expect $0.41 and $8.22 billion, respectively.

The Switzerland market retreated after a positive start Tuesday morning, and after moving along the flat line till around mid afternoon, found some momentum and eventually ended the day's session modestly Expectations of a rate cut by the Swiss central bank contributed to market's upmove. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 12,277.15 in early trades, closed up 41.44 points or 0.34% at 12,239.62. UBS Group, the top gainer in the SMI index, climbed 5.32%. The stock rallied following a rating upgrade by Jefferies. Logitech International ended nearly 2% up. VAT Group, ABB, Swatch Group, Sandoz Group, Alcon, Straumann Holding and Partners Group gained 0.7 to 1.4%. Swiss Re closed 1.61% down. Julius Baer and SIG Group ended lower by 1.44% and 1.2%, respectively. Sonova, Lonza Group, Roche Holding and Nestle also closed weak. Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's consumer prices decreased for the first time in more than four years in May, dropping by 0.1% annually, after remaining flat in the previous month. Excluding food and energy, core inflation moderated to 0.5% from 0.6% a month ago. Month-on-month, consumer prices edged up 0.1% versus a stagnant change in April. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has lowered its forecast for Swiss GDP growth for the year. The OECD now forecasts a GDP growth of 1.1% instead of 1.4% in 2025 and 1.2% instead of 1.9% in 2026, according to a report published today.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Tuesday despite lingering uncertainty about the Trump administration's tariff moves. Investors digested regional economic data, that included a report showing a drop in euro zone inflation, and looked ahead to some crucial reports from the U.S., including non-farm payroll data due later in the week. The markets struggled a bit early on in the day, weighed down by a downward revision in UK's growth forecast by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. Government's tariff moves. The OECD also downgraded its global growth forecast. The OECD downgraded the UK's growth forecast to 1.3% for 2025 and 1.0% for 2026 due to Trump's trade tariffs. The organization has slashed its global growth forecast to 2.9% from its earlier forecast of 3.1% for 2025. The Paris-based firm said the outlook across the globe has become challenging with rising trade barriers and policy uncertainty, which is weighing on consumer confidence and blocking investments. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.09%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended 0.15% up, Germany's DAX climbed 0.67% and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.34%. Switzerland's SMI also gained 0.34%. Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Poland and Spain ended weak, while Iceland and Norway closed flat. In the UK market, Centrica rallied nearly 4.5%. Airtel Africa gained 3.15%, while Rolls-Royce Holding, Melrose Industries and Ashtead Group ended higher by about 3%, 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively. Polar Capital Technology Trust, BAE Systems, SHELL and The Sage Group also closed with strong gains. Pearson drifted down more than 6.5%. Rentokil Initial ended 3.4% down. Severn Trent, Haleon, GSK, Barratt Redrow, Persimmon, Endeavour Mining, Anglo American Plc, Marks & Spencer and BT Group also closed notably lower.

United States
After recovering from early weakness to end Monday's session mostly higher, stocks saw further upside during trading on Tuesday. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in over three months. The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq advanced 156.34 points or 0.8 percent to 19,398.96, the S&P 500 climbed 34.43 points or 0.6 percent to 5,970.37 and the Dow rose 214.16 points or 0.5 percent to 42,519.64. The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report showing an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in the month of April. The Labor Department said job openings climbed to 7.391 million in April from an upwardly revised 7.200 million in March. Economists had expected job openings to decrease to 7.100 million from the 7.192 million originally reported for the previous month. Broadcom stock was on pace to set an all-time high Tuesday, and the chip maker could see its shares climb even further, according to Citi Research. Shares slumped to begin the year but have surged more than 70% since April 3. The stock was up 2.6% to $255.21 on Tuesday, just above its previous record close of $251.88 on Dec. 16. Broadcom reports its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the stock market closes on Thursday. Citi Research’s Christopher Danely expects a strong result.Shares of Ford Motor rose Tuesday after the company posted strong sales results for May. Investors, however, will be left wondering if shoppers are rushing to take advantage of incentives and lower prices before midyear, when tariff-induced price increases take effect. Tuesday morning, Ford reported U.S. vehicle sales of 220,959 units, up 16.3% from a year ago. F-150 sales totaled 79,817 trucks, up almost 15%. Battery electric vehicle sales, including Mustang Mach-Es, totaled 6,726, down 25%, but hybrid sales jumped 29% from a year ago, coming in at 22,719 vehicles.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia followed Wall Street's positive lead on Wednesday, led by technology stocks. The Nikkei-225 rose by 0.9 per cent to 37,766 points. Concerns about US tariffs have eased and a weaker yen against the dollar is supporting the market, according to reports. In the wake of the dollar's broad recovery, it rose to 144.27 yen, compared with around 143 the previous day. Chip stocks Advantest and Renesas continue to rise by 3.8 and 3.6 per cent respectively.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early advance, closing roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.460 percent after hitting a low of 4.406 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America lowers Alcon target to CHF 89 (96) - Buy
UBS raises Salzgitter target to EUR 21.70 (19) – Neutral
Deutsche Bank raises CTS Eventim target to EUR 117 (116) – Buy