The RTL Group broadcasting chain is divesting itself of the US advertising technology company SpotX. As the Bertelsmann subsidiary announced, the US company Magnite will pay 1.17 billion US dollars in cash and shares. The purchase price consists of a cash component of 560 million US dollars and 14.0 million Magnite shares. RTL had bought a majority stake in SpotX of 65 per cent for €107 million in 2014 and acquired the outstanding stake of €123 million in 2017. "The sale of SpotX is in line with our strategy to focus on growing our European digital businesses in streaming, advertising technology, digital video and audio, as well as our global content business Fremantle," said RTL CEO Thomas Rabe. SpotX has a clear focus on the US, he added. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2021.

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The Swiss stock market ended the last trading day of the week with losses. The SMI fell by 1 per cent to 10,755 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 16 price losers and four price winners. 36.43 (previously: 47.14) million shares were traded. There were no important company announcements at the end of the week. The Roche share fell by 1.7 per cent and thus gave back a large part of the previous day's gains after convincing quarterly figures. Nestle shares also fell by 1.7 per cent. In contrast, Novartis shares lost only 0.1 per cent. The day's winner in the SMI was the Swatch share with a plus of 1.5 per cent to 268.80 francs. Zur Rose gained 3.4 per cent to 475.50 francs.

European equity indices closed mixed on Friday following the release of a mixed report on the US labour market. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed balanced at 409.5 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 both gained 0.9 %. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 remained stable, while the FTSE 100 fell 0.2 % in London. BNP Paribas (+2.6%) released results on Friday that were down but better than expected, saying it expects to return to growth this year as the healthcare situation gradually normalises. The group also intends to restore its dividend payout policy to shareholders after the European Central Bank (ECB) eased its dividend guidelines. Renault gained 5.2% on the back of Japanese partner Nissan, whose shares closed up 7.5% in Tokyo. Shares in Vallourec rose 4.7 per cent after being suspended from trading for days earlier. The struggling French steelmaker announced a financial restructuring after negotiations with its lenders. Some 65 per cent of creditors had agreed to this, it said. The aim is to drastically reduce the debt ratio.

The record chase on Wall Street continued on the last trading day of the week. The S&P-500 and the Nasdaq Composite marked new all-time highs shortly after the opening. The eagerly awaited US labour market report for January was roughly in line with expectations. The Dow Jones index rose 0.3 per cent to 31,148 points. The S&P-500 improved 0.4 per cent to 3,887 points, its strongest weekly gain since November. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.6 per cent at 13,856 points. In the process, 2,111 (Thursday: 2,338) gainers were offset by 1,102 (874) losers, while 77 (84) stocks closed unchanged. The reporting season continued. Among others, T-Mobile US, Ford and News Corp presented figures after the close of trading on Thursday. German telecoms subsidiary T-Mobile added a surprising number of customers in the final quarter of 2020, but also warned of billions of dollars in costs likely to be incurred by the group in connection with the Sprint takeover. The share lost 4.1 per cent. News Corp's business figures were much better received, with the share price jumping 4.5 per cent. The company almost tripled its profit in the second quarter thanks to high growth in the book publishing business. Dow Jones & Co, which includes the Wall Street Journal and this news agency, was also a major support. Ford (up 1.2 per cent) surprised with a quarterly profit and a better outlook. The stock of video game developer Activision Blizzard, with its bestseller "Call of Duty", rose 9.6 per cent after a strong fourth quarter.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia show significant gains at the beginning of the week. The stock market in Tokyo rises the most. The Nikkei index rises by 1.8 per cent to 29,304 points and thus exceeds the 29,000 point mark for the first time since August 1990. On the Hong Kong stock exchange, the Hang Seng Index rises by 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the stock market in South Korea lags behind. The Kospi slips 0.5 per cent to 3,106 points.

On the bond market, quotations fell. The yield on the 10-year US government bond rose by 2.7 basis points to 1.17 per cent. This marked the highest level since March last year.

LBBW raises Rheinmetall target to EUR 120 (108) - Buy
IR raises Infineon target to EUR 35.50 (28.50) - Hold
Warburg raises Hawesko target to EUR 51 (49) - Buy

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