Top global stories this week: AstraZeneca, Unilever, NatWest among major names

US stock indexes ended the week lower as traders digested the latest round of key retail inflation data.

Of the 81 S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4551795-earnings-scoreboard-54-of-81-companies-post-earnings-growth-in-earnings-latest-week], 54 beat EPS expectations, 23 missed, and 4 came in line. On a year-over-year basis, 47 companies posted higher earnings.

For the week, the S&P 500 (SP500 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500]) and Nasdaq (COMP:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COMP:IND]) fell 1.3% and 2.1%, while Dow (DJI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DJI]) booked a 0.9% fall.

Across the Atlantic, THE EUROPEAN EQUITIES (STOXX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/STOXX]) ended the week 0.2% lower.

On the data front, the Euro Area economy grew at its slowest pace in a year in the final quarter, edging down from the previous period and in line with the initial estimate. The UK economy edged higher in December, matching expectations and following an upwardly revised gain in November.

In the week, London’s FTSE 100 (UKX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UKX]) equities rose 0.6% while Germany (DAX:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DAX:IND]) and France (CAC:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CAC:IND]) markets advanced 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.

MAJOR CORPORATE NEWS FROM EUROPE this week:

* Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AZN]) exceeded Street forecasts [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4549366-astrazeneca-rises-cancer-drugs-power-q4-beat] with its Q4 2025 financials, thanks mainly to its oncology portfolio.
* Ferrari (RACE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RACE]) enjoyed another solid quarter [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4549496-ferraris-pricing-power-absorbs-tariff-turbulance] thanks to enduring demand for its iconic sports car and the ability of the company to pass higher costs onto its wealthy customers.
* L'Oreal (LRLCF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRLCF]) reported disappointing fourth-quarter [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4551357-loreal-q4-sales-operating-profits-miss-expectations]operating profit, sales, and like-for-like sales growth, as well as total sales for FY25.
* NatWest Group (NWG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NWG]) has reached an agreement to acquire [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4548842-natwest-to-buy-evelyn-partners-for-27b-announces-750m-share-buyback] Evelyn Partners from funds advised by Permira and Warburg Pincus for a £2.7B enterprise value. NWG also announced a share buyback of £750M.
* Unilever (UL) warned annual sales [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4550873-unilever-non-gaap-eps-of-308-turnover-of-505b-initiates-fy26-outlook] would hit the low end of its outlook as weakness in the U.S. and Europe offset stronger emerging-market performance.

THE ASIA-PACIFIC MARKETS

Asia stocks presented a mixed picture on Friday, reflecting divergent economic trends across the region.

Annual inflation in China slowed [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4549944-china-inflation-slows-sharply-to-02-in-january-producer-prices-mark-40th-month-of-deflation] sharply in January, declining from the previous month and coming in below expectations.

In the last week, Chinese markets (SHCOMP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SHCOMP]) lost 0.5%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NKY:IND]) rose 6.7%.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s party won a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4548819-japans-nikkei-hits-record-as-ruling-party-lands-supermajority-topix-jumps-3]. With Takaichi widely expected to adopt market-friendly policies, promising to reinvigorate Japan’s underperforming economy, equities across Asia climbed.

Producer prices in Japan increased [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4550832-japans-january-ppi-rises-23-easing-from-24-in-line-with-estimates] in January from a year earlier, easing slightly from the previous month and in line with expectations.

MAJOR ASIAN CORPORATE NEWS from this week.

* ByteDance (BDNCE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BDNCE]) is in advanced discussions [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4551798-bytedance-mulls-sale-of-gaming-unit-moonton-for-over-6b] to sell Shanghai Moonton Technology to Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group in a deal valued between $6B and $7B.
* PayPay, a Japanese digital payment platform backed by SoftBank (SFTBY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SFTBY]) (SFTBF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SFTBF]), filed its preliminary prospectus for a U.S. initial public offering [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4551263-softbank-backed-paypay-files-for-us-ipo-after-government-shutdown-delay].
* Sumitomo Forestry (SMFRF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SMFRF]) agreed to acquire the home builde [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4551847-tri-pointe-homes-to-be-acquired-by-sumitomo-forestry-in-45b-deal]r Tri Pointe Homes (TPH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TPH]) in an all-cash transaction valued at ~$4.5B.

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ETFS TO TRACK ASIA & OCEANIA: (NYSEARCA:EWJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWJ#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSE:JEQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/JEQ#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:FXI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXI#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NASDAQ:PGJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PGJ#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:EWH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWH#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:DXJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DXJ#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSE:CAF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CAF#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:FXY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXY#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:YINN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/YINN#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:YANG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/YANG#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NASDAQ:CXSE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CXSE#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]), (NYSEARCA:KWEB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KWEB#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews])