Starbucks Corporation today announced that its Board of Directors has approved an increase in the company's quarterly cash dividend from $0.45 to $0.49 per share. This increase will be effective with the dividend payment to be distributed on November 26, 2021, to shareholders of record on November 12, 2021, and raises the company's annual dividend to $1.96 per share. Starbucks initiated its dividend in 2010 and has increased it in each of the past 11 years. Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today, with more than 33,000 stores worldwide, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Shares of Starbucks were flat in the extended session after ending the regular trading day up 0.4%.

Unlike most neighbouring stock exchanges in Europe, the Swiss stock exchange showed a strong recovery on Wednesday after Tuesday's slide. The SMI gained 1.2 per cent to 11,628 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 17 gainers and 3 losers. 31.66 (Tuesday: 38.29) million shares were traded. The daily gainers in the SMI were Swisscom (+2.3%), which had already been stable the previous day. JP Morgan upgraded the share. In addition, price gains of up to 2.3 per cent by the heavyweights Nestle, Roche and Novartis supported the SMI. At Novartis, a positive phase III study prompted buying. Geberit gained 1.0 per cent after UBS increased its price target, citing higher forecasts for organic growth and margins. Logitech showed a comparatively weak recovery, up 0.2 per cent after a 7 per cent slump earlier. Partners Group, which had fallen similarly on Tuesday without new news, gained 0.8 per cent.

European shares rose early Wednesday, a day after surging energy prices and rising bond yields triggered the biggest rout on Wall Street in months. Stocks hit a rough patch in recent days after the Federal Reserve signaled it would start to reduce its bond-buying as soon as November-and possibly begin to raise interest rates next year. Higher prices for oil and other commodities also helped push bond yields up as investors prepared for higher inflation. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.6% to 455 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 rose 0.8% and 0.7% respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 0.8% and the FTSE 100 in London gained 1.1%. Air France-KLM (-3.5%) expects to make a decision "in the coming months" on its major tender for medium-haul aircraft for the fleets of KLM, Transavia Netherlands and Transavia France, Chief Executive Ben Smith said on Wednesday. Dutch semiconductor equipment specialist ASML (-2.6% in Amsterdam) could have annual revenues of between €24bn and €30bn and a gross margin of between 54% and 56% in 2025. The board of directors of Cattolica (-0.4% in Milan) considers the takeover bid submitted by Generali (+1%), worth 6.75 euros per share, to be adequate, the Italian insurer announced on Tuesday evening. Generali launched on Tuesday a takeover bid for all the shares of Cattolica. This operation, announced in May, values the insurer at 1.18 billion euros.

The S&P 500 rose Wednesday, clawing back some of its losses from the prior day’s rout as traders scooped up discounted shares. Major indexes fluctuated during a choppy trading session as bond yields appeared to stabilize before resuming their upward march. The S&P 500 added 6.83 points, or 0.2%, to 4359.46, after dropping 2% Tuesday in its worst one-day performance since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 90.73 points, or 0.3%, to 34390.72. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, slipped 34.24 points, or 0.2%, to 14512.44. The stock market has rocketed higher in 2021, leaving the S&P 500 up 16% for the year even after the recent volatility. One big reason: When worries about the spread of Covid-19, the surprising uptick in inflation or potential rollbacks in monetary stimulus have threatened to derail the rally, investors have stepped in to buy. Stocks hit a rough patch in recent days after the Federal Reserve signaled it would start to reduce its bond-buying as soon as November—and possibly begin to raise interest rates next year. Higher prices for oil and other commodities also helped push bond yields up as investors prepared for higher inflation. Tech stocks had a mixed showing Wednesday. Apple shares rose 92 cents, or 0.6%, to $142.83, while Alphabet Class A shares lost $29.53, or 1.1%, to $2,687.07. Most sectors of the S&P 500 rose, led by the utilities group, which snapped a 14-session losing streak by gaining 1.3% for the day. The consumer staples, healthcare and real-estate sectors also helped pull the market higher. Shares of Dollar Tree jumped $14.23, or 16%, to $100.51 after the discount retailer said it had added about $1 billion to its share repurchase plan. The company also said it would start selling products at prices slightly above $1 in some of its stores. Shares of eyewear maker Warby Parker began trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange in a direct listing. The shares closed at $54.49.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei fell 0.2% after the release of disappointing factory and retail sales data. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.9% while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4%, following mixed data on manufacturing activity. The Chinese stock exchanges remain closed from Friday up to and including Thursday. On the Seoul stock exchange, the Kospi is 0.5 per cent higher.

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields continued to rise on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note increased for a seventh consecutive trading day, climbing to 1.540% Wednesday - its highest close since June - from 1.534% Tuesday.

Metzler increases Commerzbank target to EUR 7.50 (7.30) - Buy
Deutsche Bank lowers Carlsberg to Hold (Buy) - Target DKK 1,125 (1,325)
Deutsche Bank increases target ASM International to EUR 400 (350) - Buy

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.