European markets down
Most sectors are in the red at 11:22 a.m. in London, with risk-sensitive technology stocks down 1.4% and chemicals down 1.8%, pulling the Stoxx 600 index to a 0.57% loss.
Stoxx 600 index.
Some earnings updates are weighing on shares. French biotech firm Sartorius Stedim is down more than 10% after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 128.9 million euros ($150.7 million) for the second quarter, even as year-on-year profits and revenue rose across the first half.
Swiss chocolatier Lindt and Spruengli has meanwhile lost 7% following its own miss on analyst forecasts. That’s despite the company raising its sales outlook for the year, saying it has benefitted from customer loyalty and a trend towards more premium products. The chocolate maker now sees organic sales growth of between 9% and 11%, compared to 7% to 9% previously.
Tariff uncertainty continues to hang over the investment landscape. CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt reports today on how the European Union appears to be preparing to deploy its “Anti-Coercion Instrument” — characterized as a “nuclear option” to try to deter trade disputes — in response to the White House’s 30% tariff threat.
— Jenni Reid
AstraZeneca announces $50 billion U.S. investment
AstraZeneca on Monday said it plans to invest $50 billion in bolstering its U.S. manufacturing and research capabilities by 2030, becoming the latest pharmaceutical firm to ramp up its stateside spending in the wake of U.S. trade tariffs. Read more here.
AstraZeneca share price.
Terms of Centrica’s Sizewell C stake ‘look attractive’: Jefferies
Centrica shares are still trading around 4.5% higher after the British utility firm announced it was taking a 15% equity stake and committing £1.3 billion ($1.75 billion) in construction funding to the Sizewell C nuclear plant to be built on the Suffolk coast.
Analysts at Jefferies said in a Tuesday note that the terms “look attractive” for Centrica, pointing to the company’s “robust protections against construction delays and cost overruns” and 10.8% allowed return on equity during the construction and initial operations period.
While cash yield during the construction period is forecast to be in-line with Jefferies’ own prior estimate at around 6%, Centrica’s forecast exit share of £3 billion is higher than Jefferies’ previous expectation of £2.3 billion, they said.
“We don’t expect all of it to be priced in immediately, as there is some uncertainty regarding scenarios,” the analysts wrote.
Read more about why Europe is pivoting back to nuclear — one of its most divisive energy sources — from CNBC’s Sam Meredith here.
— Jenni Reid
UK government bonds fall after government borrowing spikes
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey visit Wellington Barracks, in central London, on March 26, 2025.
Stefan Rousseau | Afp | Getty Images
U.K. government bonds, known as gilts, are selling off this morning after official data showed public borrowing rose more than expected to hit £20.7 billion ($27.9 billion) in June.
Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting borrowing to reach £16.5 billion in June.
The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday that last month’s figure marked the second-highest June borrowing since records began in 1993 — after 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the U.K. budget deficit — the gap between spending and tax revenues — hit £16.3 billion, marking the third-highest June budget deficit since monthly records started in 1997.
Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility said on Tuesday that despite the June spike, government borrowing remained within its forecasts.
However, the unexpectedly sharp increase in government borrowing is likely to pile additional pressure onto U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves.
“Reeves will face some tough questioning on the government’s fiscal policies, following another monthly PSNB deficit that was well above expectations thanks to rising debt servicing costs,” Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at London’s ADM Investor Services, said in a Tuesday morning note.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt moved 4 basis points higher by 9:07 a.m. London time (4:07 a.m. ET), to trade at 4.646%.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, so government borrowing costs rise as the value of the asset goes down.
Yields on gilts across the curve rose by around 4 basis points in the wake of the ONS’ update.
— Chloe Taylor
British Gas takes 15% stake in newly-greenlit UK nuclear project with £1.3 billion investment
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