Deutsche Boerse AG said late Wednesday that German energy company Siemens Energy AG has joined its blue-chip DAX index, while Porsche Automobil Holding SE was admitted to the lower-ranking MDAX in a reshuffle. The German stock-exchange operator said Siemens Energy will replace Beiersdorf AG, which will join the MDAX. Porsche is replacing Aeral Bank AG in the MDAX, Deutsche Boerse said. Encavis AG will replace Metro AG and Nordex SE will replace Osram Licht AG in the same index, according to Deutsche Boerse. The companies exiting the MDAX will be joining the SDAX, Germany's smallcap index, Deutsche Boerse said. The changes will become effective as of March 22, the stock-exchange operator said.

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After two days of strong gains, the SMI took a downturn Wednesday, closing 0.4 percent lower on 10,772 points as a new rise in bond yields dampened sentiment. Overall, investors remain optimistic for a strong economic recovery this year as vaccine availability increases and hopes of more easing measures rise. Credit Suisse (CS) continued Tuesday’s decline, falling 0.2 percent on reports that embattled Greensill Capital plans to file for insolvency in the UK this week and sell its business operations to Apollo Global Management, according to persons familiar with the company. CS had temporarily suspended trading with investment funds containing Greensill securities Monday. Kühne + Nagel surged 7.1 percent on 2020 figures. While Q4 2020 growth had only continued to reduce but could not fully compensate for the pandemic-related slump in H1, the 2020 dividend was hiked to CHF 4.50 per share from CHF 4.00 for 2019. Julius Baer rose 2.2 percent on an analyst upgrade to "buy" from "hold".

European stocks are mostly higher as rising crude prices boost oil stocks, though Wall Street trades mixed. The Stoxx Europe 600 gains 0.05%, the CAC-40 and DAX are both up 0.3% and the FTSE 100 rises 0.9%. The price of a barrel of Brent crude increases 2.9% to $64.54, lifting the likes of BP, Eni, Shell and Total. "As with last week, the rise in government bond yields is encouraging dealers to cut their exposure to stocks," David Madden at CMC Markets says. "The nudge higher in the US 10-year is weighing on equities and tech shares continue to underperform. Fiat Chrysler posted results that were generally better than expected for 2020, while Peugeot also reported solid figures for the same period, says Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Monica Bosio. The two car makers earlier Wednesday reported earnings via the new umbrella company Stellantis, created through their merger completed earlier this year. The Italian bank estimates Stellantis's (-0,2%) revenue in 2021 to be EUR154.5 billion and the adjusted EBIT margin to be 5.8%. Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot reported combined revenue of around EUR147.4 billion for 2020. "We keep our positive view on the stock," the analyst says. Shop Apotheke (-6,3%) posted strong top-line growth in the fourth quarter, allowing it to generate a positive adjusted Ebitda for the fourth consecutive quarter, says M.M. Warburg. The Netherlands-based online-pharmacy company posted sales of EUR264.9 million in the fourth quarter, up from EUR191.9 million the previous year, and adjusted Ebitda of EUR6.1 million compared with an adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of EUR1.9 million the previous year.

U.S. stocks fell with technology stocks dropping sharply and government bond yields ticking higher. The S&P 500 fell 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.7%, the second consecutive decline for the tech-heavy index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better, edging down 0.4%. Stocks have been jittery in recent days, with the major indexes wavering between losses and gains. Some money managers have grown concerned that stimulus measures will lead to a spike in inflation and erode the value of bond returns. Worries about inflation have also triggered bets that the Federal Reserve may start to boost interest rates in the next two years. Lyft updated quarterly guidance and disclosed strong end to February, and shares jump more than 8% higher In the best sign yet of a recovery in ride hailing, Lyft Inc. said late Tuesday that it saw its largest volume of rides since March 2020 last week, sending its shares toward new heights in Wednesday trading. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lyft (LYFT) said the week ending Feb. 28 "reached a new record level for 2021 and was the company's best week since March 2020." The company said that average daily rides volume in February rose 5.4% from January, excluding the week ending Feb. 21, when severe storms affected several U.S. states. Google (-2,4%) plans to stop selling ads based on individuals' browsing across multiple websites, a change that could hasten upheaval in the digital advertising industry. Google says next year it plans to stop using or investing in tracking technologies that uniquely identify web users as they move from site to site across the internet. The world's biggest digital-advertising company's decision could help push the industry away from the use of such individualized tracking, which has come under increasing criticism from privacy advocates and faces scrutiny from regulators.

Stock prices in East Asia are on a steep downward trend on Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 plunged 2.2 per cent to 28,921 points, while elsewhere in the region losses ranged from 1.1 per cent in Seoul to 2.3 per cent in Hong Kong. While technology stocks are on the losing side across the region, financials are doing better as they benefit from higher interest rates. In Tokyo, Softbank slipped 5.4 per cent and Sony 3.0 per cent, while Dai-ichi Life rose 0.7 per cent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial 0.1 per cent.

U.S. Treasury yields continued to shift higher in Asia, after the bond-market selloff gained pace on Wednesday, following news reports that European Central Bank policymakers were unwilling to intervene to keep government debt yields from rising.

HSBC rises the Easyjet target to 1.200 (990) p – Buy
UBS rises the Infineon target to 42 (38) EUR – Buy
Deutsche Bank rises the Kion target to 77 (75) EUR – Hold

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