U.S. shale drillers Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Cimarex Energy Co. said Monday that they plan to merge in an all-stock deal, combining companies that had a market capitalization of about $14 billion as of Friday. The combination of Cimarex, an operator in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico primarily focused on oil, and Cabot, a natural-gas producer in the Northeastern U.S., brings together two firms operating in different regions and extracting different commodities. It follows a string of tie-ups between American fracking companies as the energy industry emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent deals have mostly paired up rivals in the same or similar regions. Having a mix of assets in oil, gas and natural-gas liquids should protect the company against price swings in any single commodity, a particular benefit for shareholders that have sharpened their demands for better investment returns in recent years, said Thomas Jorden, chief executive officer of Cimarex. Shareholders of Denver-based Cimarex, the companies said, will own 50.5% of the combined entity, receiving 4.0146 shares of Houston-based Cabot stock for each share of Cimarex they hold. Cimarex shares fell 7% while Cabot shares lost 6.7%.

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Ahead of the long Pentecost weekend, the Swiss stock market built on the previous day's gains and posted an increase. The SMI gained 0.7 percent to 11,226 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 19 price gainers and 1 loser. 40.45 (previously: 38.91) million shares were traded. Richemont shares topped the SMI with a gain of 4.9 percent. The effects of the pandemic caused a decline in sales for the luxury goods group in the past financial year. Thanks to cost-cutting measures and positive special effects, however, the company posted a higher profit and exceeded market expectations. The Group is confident about the new fiscal year. The shares of competitor Swatch rose 1.3 percent in the wake. Among the index heavyweights, Nestle showed a meager plus of 0.1 percent. Roche was up 0.9 percent, while Novartis shares lagged behind with a gain of 0.2 percent. Among the financial stocks, UBS gained 1.0 percent, Credit Suisse was up 0.5 percent. The shares of asset manager Partners Group also held up well, also up 1.0 percent. Swiss Life improved by 1.4 percent. Among the second-line stocks, Sonova stood out with gains of 4.7 percent. The share benefited from a price target increase by UBS to 308 from 235 francs. The bank emphasized the better margins and outlook of the manufacturer of hearing aids. The shares thus continued their upward trend since the presentation of figures on Tuesday.

European stocks inched up on Monday to near record territory, as the market focus continued to be on the volatility in the cryptocurrency space. The Stoxx Europe 600 inched up 0.1%, near the closing high of 445.39. German and Swiss markets were closed in observance of Whit Monday. Ryanair shares eased 0.1%. A Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Belarus over an alleged bomb scare, at which point the country arrested an opposition activist. The European Council said it would begin discussing sanctions against Belarus over the incident. Ted Baker shares slipped, after the clothing retailer delayed its full-year results, citing the consequence of disruption caused by COVID-19 on the audit processes. Ted Baker said the 2020 results would be in line with forecasts and that it is reiterating 2023 financial targets. Information-technology services firm Kainos rose 4%, after reporting a 122% rise in adjusted earnings per share on a 31% rise in revenue in the year ending March 31. HeidelbergCement AG has agreed to sell its operations in the U.S. West region to Martin Marietta Materials Inc. for $2.3 billion in cash. The German cement maker said Monday that the agreement includes the sale of Lehigh Hanson's activities in cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt in California, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada. It doesn't include the Permanente cement plant and quarry.

U.S. stocks advanced Monday, led by rebounding shares of technology and communications companies, as investors grew more comfortable with the inflation outlook and the pace of the economic recovery. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 190.18 points, or 1.4%, to 13661.17, adding to its recovery after it eked out a small gain last week and snapped a four-week losing streak. The S&P 500 climbed 41.19 points, or 1%, to 4197.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 186.14 points, or 0.5%, to close at 34393.98. Cryptocurrencies continued a dramatic stretch of trading. Bitcoin rebounded after suddenly dropping over the weekend to nearly $30,000 and was trading at $38,999 late Monday afternoon. It got a boost when Tesla CEO Elon Musk—one of the most influential figures in crypto markets—tweeted that North American bitcoin miners had committed to publish data on their use of renewable energy, a step that could alleviate concerns over bitcoin’s impact on the environment. But bitcoin is still down nearly 40% from its mid-April peak. Tech and communications were the best-performing sectors of the S&P 500 on Monday. Among the day’s stronger gainers were Twitter, which rose $2.61, or 4.8%, to $57.06, and Tesla, which gained $25.56, or 4.4%, to close at $606.44. Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft all gained more than 2%. In corporate news, shares of Moderna rose $2.72, or 1.7%, to $164.17 after the vaccine maker struck a deal with Samsung’s biotech division to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccines in South Korea. Virgin Galactic shares jumped $5.82, or 28%, to $26.89 after the space-travel company said it completed its first human space flight on Saturday from New Mexico.

Supported by Wall Street, the Asian stock markets close friendly to firm on Tuesday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 increases by 0.6 percent - led by technology and electronics stocks. In China, the markets rise more strongly. Shanghai (+1.60%) and Hong Kong (+1.26%) report very firm prices. In Seoul, the Kospi is up by 0,74%.

Long-dated U.S. government bond yields on Monday slipped for a third straight session and hit the lowest levels in about two weeks, kicking off the final week of trade this month. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 1.608%, off 2.1 basis points from Friday’s level at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

HSBC raises Krones to Buy / Target EUR 85 - Trader
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