Euro zone banks see investment banking boost but outlook stalls shares

The euro zone’s biggest banks largely beat second quarter earnings expectations on Wednesday, benefiting from still-high interest rates and bumper investment banking business, although concerns about a tougher outlook held back their shares.

Italian bank UniCredit said it aims to more than halve loans at its Russian unit by the end of next year to less than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), after challenging a European Central Bank request to speed up its exit.

Payments firm Fiserv raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday and reported second-quarter earnings that rose 31% on the back of higher spending by affluent customers.

CME Group reported its second-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday as uncertainty in markets helped the exchange operator notch record trading volumes.

Visa’s underwhelming third-quarter revenue prompted a number of brokerages to cut their price targets on the company’s stock, stoking concerns about slowing growth in customer spending and casting a shadow on the U.S. payments industry.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Brazil’s public banks will announce on Thursday the development of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on sustainable investments in the Amazon rainforest, said two people with direct knowledge.

India wants to discourage “excessive speculation” in the derivatives market, and tax changes announced in the budget are intended as one way to do this, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

Santander Brasil’s second-quarter recurring net profit jumped 44.3% on a yearly basis, the bank reported on Wednesday, topping market forecasts helped by higher lending and fees.

India’s SBI Life Insurance Company posted a 36% rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as premiums were boosted by strong demand for market-linked products.

Axis Bank , India’s fourth-largest private bank by market capitalisation, reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter profit on Wednesday as it set aside more funds for potential bad loans amid a deterioration in asset quality.

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