Bloomberg European stocks dropped on Tuesday as a planned lockdown in Germany amid a resurgence of virus cases cast doubt on the region’s nascent economic recovery. The Stoxx 600 Index falls 0.5%, dragged lower by travel shares and cyclicals as Chancellor Angela Merkel put Germany into hard lockdown over Easter to try to defuse another wave of infections. The move …

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) spent 110 billion francs ($118 billion) on interventions in 2020, evidence of heightened market activism that risks fueling more tension with the US. The tally is the highest since 2012 and indicates officials purchased currency worth 9 billion francs in the fourth quarter, when the US Treasury branded Switzerland a currency manipulator. Such eye-watering …

Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc reopens its main Hong Kong office on Monday, after being closed last week in the wake of three people testing positive for coronavirus (Covid-19). “Precautionary measures — such as wearing masks, pre-entry temperature screening, hand sanitisers, spaced queuing and portable acrylic screens at open banking counters — will continue to be in place,” according to a …