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European markets edge higher with vaccine challenges and earnings in focus - CNBC

LONDON — European stocks advanced on Tuesday, looking to end two consecutive sessions of declines.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.1% by early afternoon deals, with chemicals and financial services stocks adding 2.5% and 2.4% respectively to lead gains, as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.

British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has been accused by the EU of not doing enough to resolve a dispute over how many doses it will be able to supply to the bloc. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency but is expected to be imminent. AstraZeneca said last week that it is facing production problems.

In other coronavirus news, Moderna said Monday it's accelerating work on a Covid-19 booster shot for the recently discovered variant in South Africa. The firm's researchers said its current coronavirus vaccine appears to work against the two highly transmissible strains found in the U.K. and South Africa.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday and will seek to lead a new mandate, plunging the country into more political turmoil amid concurrent health and economic crises. The move comes after weeks of tensions between Conte and Matteo Renzi, the head of a junior coalition party in the government.

Elsewhere, U.S. stock futures swung to modest gains Tuesday morning as Wall Street geared up for the heart of corporate earnings seasons; General ElectricVerizon and Johnson & Johnson are slated to report results before the bell, while tech giant Microsoft will announce its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the bell. In Asia-Pacific, stocks declined in Tuesday trade.

Earnings remain in focus, with UBS on Tuesday reporting a net income of $1.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2020, a 137% jump on the year before and vastly outstripping analyst expectations of $967 million, according to Refinitiv. The world's largest wealth manager's stock climbed 1.9% by early afternoon.

Biggest movers

EQT shares soared more than 21% by the afternoon after the Swedish private equity firm beat full-year profit expectations and agreed to buy Exeter Property Group.

Spanish utility Naturgy saw its shares surge more than 16% after the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund made a 5 billion euro ($6.06 billion) offer for a stake in the company.

Austrian chipmaker AMS and Finnish telecoms giant Nokia both gained more than 7%.

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