Dow futures give up gains; BP Q1 profit nearly halves

HSBC Holdings Plc announced a fresh buyback for shareholders despite an increasingly fragile geopolitical backdrop that has weighed on the global economy and markets.

The London-headquartered lender said Tuesday that it will buyback $3 billion and reported a pretax profit of $9.48 billion for the first quarter, surpassing a company-compiled estimate of $7.83 billion.

“Our strong results this quarter demonstrate momentum in our earnings, discipline in the execution of our strategy and confidence in our ability to deliver our targets,” Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery said in the earnings statement. “We continue to support our customers through this period of economic uncertainty and market unpredictability, which we enter from a position of financial strength.”