European shares extended their decline on Tuesday as the global equity selloff deepened, as investors grappled with ‌the prospect ⁠of ⁠a drawn-out Middle East war, and a sharp jump in oil prices led to fears of a rise in the cost of living.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.3% at 615.72 points by 0804 GMT, after closing at the lowest level in ⁠more than two ‌weeks on Monday.

The utilities index and banks led sectors lower with 2.6% declines ⁠each, while energy climbed marginally, adding to the previous session’s gains.

U.S. President Donald Trump sought to justify a broad, open-ended war on Iran, saying the stated aims of the conflict had shifted.

An official from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and any ‌vessel trying to pass would be targeted, pushing up global oil and gas shipping rates.

European Central Bank Chief ⁠Economist Philip Lane told the Financial Times a long war could massively put upward pressure on inflation and reduce growth rate in the euro zone.
Among individual stocks, Thales gained 0.7% after the French aerospace and technology firm reported a slightly higher-than-expected annual core profit.

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a formal investigation into three of the world’s largest hotel groups, Hilton, InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott International, over concerns they may have shared “competitively sensitive” information through a third-party data analytics platform.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it is examining whether the hotel operators exchanged commercially sensitive data using STR, a widely used industry benchmarking tool owned by CoStar Group.

Together, the three hotel groups operate more than 25,000 hotels globally, giving the probe significant weight in the international hospitality sector.

Hotel chains routinely use analytics platforms such as STR to track industry metrics including occupancy rates, average daily room prices and revenue per available room (RevPAR). Such tools can help operators adjust pricing in response to demand and competition.

However, the CMA warned that where rival businesses share competitively sensitive information, even indirectly through a third-party provider, it may reduce uncertainty between competitors and risk softening competition.

“When rival businesses share competitively sensitive information, including through a third-party data analytics provider, this reduces the uncertainty competing businesses normally have about how each other will act,” the regulator said.

“This can affect how strongly companies compete because it makes it easier for them to predict what each other will do and coordinate their behaviour.”

The watchdog will now spend up to six months gathering evidence before deciding whether to issue a formal statement of objections.

At this stage, the CMA stressed that no conclusion has been reached and no assumptions should be made about whether competition law has been breached.

Shares in London-listed IHG fell by as much as 5 per cent in early trading on Monday, although the wider travel sector was also under pressure due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

In the US, Hilton and Marriott shares each fell around 3 per cent, while CoStar, which has a market value of more than $18 billion, dropped approximately 2 per cent.

IHG and Hilton both confirmed they were cooperating fully with the CMA’s investigation. CoStar said it was surprised by the regulator’s interest in what it described as a “longstanding hotel data analytics and benchmarking platform” that has been used by companies and government bodies for decades.

Marriott did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

If the CMA concludes that competition rules have been breached, it has the power to impose fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover.

The regulator can also offer immunity or reduced penalties to companies that report cartel activity early and cooperate with investigations.

The probe forms part of the CMA’s broader scrutiny of how digital tools and algorithms are used in pricing decisions across sectors.

The watchdog has increasingly focused on the intersection of competition law and technology, warning that algorithmic pricing systems, while potentially efficiency-enhancing, must not facilitate anti-competitive coordination.

The hospitality investigation comes amid a series of high-profile competition cases in recent years.

In November, the CMA opened investigations into eight companies over online pricing practices. Last year, seven major UK housebuilders agreed to contribute £100 million to affordable housing initiatives after the regulator found evidence of information sharing that may have affected competition.

The latest case underscores growing regulatory concern that data-sharing arrangements, even when mediated through analytics providers, could blur the line between legitimate benchmarking and unlawful coordination.

For the hotel sector, the outcome of the investigation could have significant implications for how pricing data is shared, analysed and used across the industry.

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The regeneration project aims to bring more leisure and hospitality facilities to the city

Plans to transform Swansea’s landmark Civic Centre on the seafront have taken a major step forward, with Swansea Council’s cabinet giving the go-ahead for further work to take place which will help inform a future planning application.

The redevelopment, led by the council’s regeneration partners Urban Splash, aims to bring cafes, bars, shops, apartments, workspaces, and leisure areas to the largely vacant building. Proposals include 15 commercial units on the ground and lower floors, around 140 apartments above, and unique attractions such as an aquarium and a saltwater lido.

Set in a prime coastal location, the civic centre occupies one of the most enviable plots in the city – a space many believe holds money-can’t-buy views and untapped potential.

READ MORE: Next Welsh Government must look to deliver an M4 Relief Road says business body the CBIREAD MORE: Despite the promise of £14bn of rail investment Wales isn’t getting a fair deal

The regeneration plans were unveiled at a two-day public exhibition held earlier this month at the Y Storfa community services hub. According to organisers, the response had been overwhelmingly positive, with strong public interest in what could become one of Swansea’s most ambitious redevelopment projects in a generation.

Council leader Cllr Rob Stewart said the project marks the first phase of a wider vision for the Civic Centre site. “The Civic Centre sits on one of the most spectacular waterfront sites in the UK, but the building is now largely vacant following the successful move of services into the city centre,” he said.

“We want to see it transformed into a vibrant destination with new homes, independent businesses, leisure and community spaces that will benefit local people while attracting more visitors to Swansea.” Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here

David Warburton, Development Director at Urban Splash, added: “It’s an extraordinary building in an unrivalled waterfront location, and we see enormous potential to create a place that people will want to live in, visit and spend time in.

“Our ambition is to sensitively repurpose the building, delivering high-quality homes alongside dynamic spaces for independent businesses, hospitality, leisure and community uses – creating activity throughout the day and into the evening.”

Many council services that were previously based at the Civic Centre have now moved to the Y Storfa community services hub on Oxford Street. This includes the central library, contact centre, revenues and benefits, and the West Glamorgan Archive Service.

The Civic Centre redevelopment represents the first step in Swansea Council’s broader plan to strengthen the city’s waterfront as a leading destination.

The city centre has already seen significant investment in recent years, with projects such as the indoor arena and the privately-led restoration of the Albert Hall expanding cultural and leisure offerings. Retail also continues to perform well in some areas, while empty upper floors of commercial units are being converted into flats, potentially boosting footfall for local businesses.

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Q4: 2026-03-02 Earnings Summary

EPS of $0.03 beats by $0.00

 | Revenue of $84.49M (2.96% Y/Y) beats by $4.96M

Tuya Inc. (TUYA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call March 2, 2026 7:30 PM EST

Company Participants

Xuechen Wang
Xueji Wang – Founder, Co-Chairman & CEO
Yi Yang – Co-founder, COO, CFO & Executive Director

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Conference Call Participants

Yang Liu – Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Timothy Zhao – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division
Mingran Li – China International Capital Corporation Limited, Research Division
Matt Ma – Jefferies LLC, Research Division

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Presentation

Operator

Good morning, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Tuya Inc.’s Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be informed that today’s conference is being recorded.

I’ll now turn the call over to your first speaker today, Ms. Regina Wang, Investor Relations Associate Director of Tuya. Please go ahead.

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Xuechen Wang

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings call. Joining us today are our Founder and CEO, Mr. Jerry Wang; and our Co-Founder and CFO, Mr. Alex Yang. The fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 financial results and webcast of the conference call are available at ir.tuya.com. A replay of this call will also be available on our IR website in a few hours.

Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statement in our earnings press release, which applies to this call as we will make forward-looking statements.

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With that, I will now turn the call over to our Founder and CEO, Mr. Jerry Wang. Jerry will deliver his remarks in Chinese, which will be followed by a corresponding English translation. Jerry, please?

Xueji Wang
Founder, Co-Chairman & CEO

[Interpreted]

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Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining Tuya’s earnings call for the fourth quarter 2025. In 2025, against the complex and evolving external environment, we maintain stability across our platform business, delivered steady full year

Japanese shares fell at the sharpest pace in months on Tuesday, as investors remained on edge for a second straight day following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The Topix slumped 3.2% to 3,772.17, the fastest decline since April, while the Nikkei declined 3.1% ‌to close at ⁠56,279.05, ⁠the biggest drop since November last year, after falling as much as 3.4%.

“Ongoing gains in crude oil futures on worsening Middle East tensions, together with a stronger U.S. dollar and weaker yen, are fuelling views that inflation could accelerate,” said Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura Securities.

“This uncertainty, seen as potentially impacting future monetary ⁠policy, is ‌weighing on the equity market overall.”

The U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran escalated with no end in sight, ⁠as Israel struck Lebanon in response to Hezbollah attacks and Tehran continued launching missiles and drones at Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases.

All 33 industry subindexes on the Tokyo bourse were down, led by a 5.5% fall in the oil and coal sector followed by a 5.4% decline in the transport equipment industry.
Toyota Motor, the world’s largest automaker ‌by sales, dropped 6.1%, the sharpest drop since September 2024, while Japan’s largest airline, ANA Holdings, fell 3.3%. ENEOS Holdings, Japan’s biggest refiner, lost ⁠6.3%, the sharpest drop since April.

The largest percentage decliner, though, had nothing to do with the Middle East tensions.

Sumitomo Pharma tanked 19.1%, the biggest fall in nearly 12 years, as investor concerns over a new share issuance outweighed an upward revision to its full-year net profit forecast for the current fiscal year.

There were 219 decliners on the Nikkei index against six advancers.

Shop price inflation slowed more than expected in February, offering households tentative relief from cost-of-living pressures as retailers stepped up discounting and global food prices eased.

New data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NielsenIQ showed shop prices rose 1.1 per cent year-on-year in February, down from 1.5 per cent in January. The deceleration reflects intensified competition across both food and non-food sectors, with retailers cutting prices to stimulate demand amid weak consumer confidence.

The figures come ahead of the spring statement, when the Office for Budget Responsibility is due to update its outlook on growth and public finances. They add to recent signs that inflationary pressures are moderating, after official data showed UK consumer price inflation fell sharply to 3 per cent in January, moving closer to the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.

Food prices remain elevated but are increasing at a slower pace. Annual food inflation eased to 3.5 per cent in February from 3.9 per cent the previous month. Fresh food inflation edged lower, while ambient food inflation, covering products such as coffee, pasta, canned goods and other cupboard staples, fell to 2.3 per cent, its lowest level in four years.

The BRC said lower global commodity costs were filtering through supply chains, helping to stabilise grocery prices. However, it emphasised that competitive dynamics were playing a crucial role, particularly in discretionary categories such as fashion, health and beauty.

Prices for non-food items, including clothing, electronics and household goods, declined by 0.1 per cent year-on-year, compared with 0.3 per cent growth in January. Heavy promotional activity in fashion and personal care, coupled with softer demand due to unseasonal weather and fragile sentiment, contributed to the decline.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, described the slowdown as a “welcome relief” but warned that pressures had not disappeared. She noted that while the pace of price rises is moderating, many households continue to feel strain from higher cumulative costs over the past three years.

Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ, said pricing behaviour had shifted notably since the start of the year. “Competitive pricing across both food and non-food is helping to bring down inflation,” he said, though he cautioned that demand remains unpredictable as shoppers continue to prioritise essentials and trade down to value options.

The easing in shop price inflation follows a mixed economic backdrop. The government recently reported a record £30.4 billion budget surplus in January, driven by strong tax receipts and lower debt interest payments. Retail sales also surprised on the upside. However, unemployment has climbed to a five-year high and economic growth remains sluggish, tempering optimism.

Retailers have also flagged potential future cost pressures. The upcoming implementation of the Employment Rights Act and higher employment costs could increase operating expenses later this year. Industry leaders warn that if secondary legislation raises labour or compliance costs significantly, businesses may be forced to pass some of those increases on to consumers.

For now, the slowdown in shop price inflation suggests that competitive retail markets and easing global input costs are helping to cushion households. Whether that trend continues will depend on energy prices, wage dynamics and the broader economic outlook in the months ahead.

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