London, UK – European markets showed a cautious start on Tuesday morning, with investors closely monitoring corporate earnings reports and anticipating a crucial U.S. inflation print.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.3% in early trade, with tech stocks leading the losses by shedding 1.9%, while health care stocks added 0.4%.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 crossed the 38,000 mark, marking the first time the index reached these levels since 1990. The index surpassed 38,000 points just minutes before its close, ending the day at 37,963.97 with a 2.89% gain. The broad-based Topix also gained 2.12% to close at 2,612.03, marking a 34-year high.
Index provider MSCI raised India’s weightage in its Global Standard index to 18.2% in its February review, a record high, according to Reuters. The report added that India’s weightage in the index has nearly doubled since November 2020. MSCI said that it had added five Indian securities to the index in the February review. In total, MSCI will add 24 securities to the index and remove 101 securities. The changes will take effect on Feb. 29, after market close.
Japanese investment holding company SoftBank saw its shares jump as much as 10.2% as Arm shares continued their rally into a second week. The chip designer saw its shares soar 29% on Monday and has gained 93% since it reported quarterly financials on Feb. 8. With the rise, SoftBank is the largest gainer on the Nikkei on Tuesday, with the index also gaining almost 2% and leading gains among Asian markets.
In the U.S., the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 index just wrapped up its third consecutive winning session. The benchmark closed higher by 1.75% on Monday, its best day since Jan. 22. Over the past week, the Russell 2000 has surged more than 5%.
After-hours trading saw some companies making headlines, with JetBlue Airways’ stock jumping more than 15% after activist Carl Icahn reported a nearly 10% stake in the company, stating that JetBlue shares are undervalued. On the other hand, Avis Budget Group’s shares slipped about 1% after the rental car company’s fourth-quarter revenue of $2.76 billion missed estimates. ZoomInfo Technologies’ shares also soared nearly 23% after the market intelligence company posted adjusted earnings of 26 cents per share on revenue of $316 million in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the global markets continue to reflect a keen focus on corporate earnings and shifting market dynamics as investors navigate through uncertain economic conditions.