In This Article:
Investing.com - The European financial sector was on the backfoot in midday trade on Tuesday, as sentiment was dampened after fourth-quarter earnings from UBS (SIX:UBSG) fell short of expectations.
The Swiss bank generated $862 million in fourth-quarter pre-tax earnings, missing analyst expectations for $985 million in its own consensus report.
Results were hit by an outflow of funds in its flagship wealth management business and a slide in investment bank earnings.
UBS said client activity in the first quarter of 2019 would be affected by a "lack of progress in resolving geopolitical tensions, rising protectionism and trade disputes along with increased volatility."
Shares were down by more than 4% in Zurich by 6:40AM ET (11:40 GMT).
The worrying news also had an impact on shares of rivals Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) and Julius Baer (SIX:BAER), which fell 1% and 3% respectively.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Banks index was down by around 1.3%.
Some of the notable decliners across the continent include Germany's Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), France's BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Italy's Unicredit (MI:CRDI), which were down 3.7%, 2.4% and 2.3% respectively.
-- Reuters contributed to this report
Related Articles
MarketPulse: Xilinx Soars as Semis Shine Brightly on Earnings Stage
EU warns Brussels city on strict home sharing rules in boost for Airbnb
Party is over for dirt-cheap solar panels, says China executive