News

* Sold 1.88 mln Switch consoles in Q1, slightly below analyst estimates

Mizuho Financial Group said on Tuesday net profit rose 36 percent for its first quarter ended in June, boosted by a sharp recovery in banking business at home and overseas after a particularly weak year.

European shares struggled for direction in early trading on Tuesday though earnings updates from oil major BP, big banking stocks and a host of smaller UK companies kept things interesting beneath the surface.

* Gains in Shanghai stocks led by Tianjin Songjiang Co Ltd and losses by Hongfa Technology Co Ltd

Japan's Financial Services Agency on Tuesday slapped a fine of 218.37 million yen ($1.96 million) yen on a joint venture of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Morgan Stanley for trying to manipulate Japanese government bond futures prices.

Provident Financial reported a 24 percent drop in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit on Tuesday, hurt by disappointing collections at its troubled home credit business, which the door-to-door lender tried to reorganise last year.

Nintendo Co reported its first-quarter operating profit jumped 88 percent, beating market expectations despite soft sales of its Switch videogame consoles.

Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index and the won rose on Tuesday after Bank of Japan decided to keep main policy targets unchanged but added flexibility around them. Investors also await several other central bank meetings later this week. South Korean bond yields fell. ** At...

The Swiss National Bank reported a 11.96 billion Swiss franc ($12.12 billion) profit during its second quarter as gains from its massive dollar investments outweighed losses on its euro-denominated holdings.