Rivian Automotive Inc. is seeking a valuation in the low-$60s-billion range in its initial public offering next week, one of the biggest and most-anticipated deals yet in a blockbuster year for new issues. The Amazon.com Inc.-backed electric-vehicle startup plans to sell shares between $57 and $62 apiece, the company said in an updated regulatory filing on Monday. At the high end of the range, that would give Rivian a valuation of over $60 billion on a fully diluted basis, as The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday. As a private company, Irvine, Calif.-based Rivian has received roughly $10.5 billion since the start of 2019 from a range of marquee backers including Amazon, Ford Motor Co. and Cox Enterprises. Amazon disclosed last week that it holds a 20% stake in Rivian. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are leading Rivian's offering. The roadshow for company management and their underwriters to pitch the shares to potential investors begins Tuesday, and the shares are to start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market next week under the symbol RIVN.

The Swiss stock market closed favourably on Monday in conjunction with the other stock exchanges. The SMI gained 0.9 percent to 12,216 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks were 17 price winners and three losers. Across Europe, bank stocks were in demand. Traders pointed to rising market interest rates - especially in the United States. There, the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to give the starting signal to tighten monetary policy on Wednesday, they said. Credit Suisse gained 5.6 percent, UBS 1.4 percent. Novartis climbed 1.2 percent. The pharmaceutical company had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a specific drug treatment. Competitor securities Roche rose as much as 1.3 percent. Nestle (-0.3%) took profits after its recent all-time high. Among small caps, Implenia jumped 13.6 percent. The construction and real estate services provider delivered a positive outlook and reaffirmed its operating forecast. U-Blox (+2.5%) had announced a cooperation with a SoftBank subsidiary.

European stocks rose to start the month as investors awaited U.S. earnings and clarity on the Federal Reserve's interest-rate plans. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.7% to 478.9 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each gained 0.9%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 0.8% and the FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.7%. The Fed will announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, with expectations it will finally announce the tapering of asset purchases. Valneva (+8.7%) announced the full exercise of the over-allotment option associated with its capital increase, increasing the size of the transaction from 4.5 million to 5.175 million ordinary shares. Air France-KLM (+4.4%) has made "remarkable", "clear" and "faster than expected" progress on the operational front, according to Oddo BHF, which has raised its price target for the airline group from €3.8 to €4.5. Irish airline Ryanair (up 1.2% in Dublin) announced that it was considering a delisting from the London stock exchange, that its net loss had fallen considerably and that its turnover had increased significantly in the first half of its 2021-2022 financial year. The group also said it expected to make a loss of between €100m and €200m in the current financial year. Danone stock was trading around EUR57 a share which is approximately a five-year low and a level where it should find good valuation support, Bernstein said as it upgrades the French food company to marketperform from underperform.

U.S. stocks continued a weekslong march higher, reaching new records on Monday in a display of investor confidence in the economy’s bumpy recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly jumped above 36000 for the first time, hitting 36009.74 just after the opening bell. It later paired gains and ended the day with an increase of 94.28 points, or 0.3%, to 35913.84. The S&P 500 rose 8.29 points, or 0.2%, to 4613.67 after closing out October with its best monthly performance since November 2020. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite advanced 97.53 points, or 0.6%, to 15595.92, its sixth consecutive winning session. For the second trading session in a row, all three indexes closed at record levels. Companies that have reported earnings so far have signaled solid customer demand. That has assuaged some investors’ concerns about supply-chain disruptions and rising prices. About 82% of S&P 500 companies that have reported so far this season have beaten analysts’ earnings forecasts, according to FactSet data. Companies reporting quarterly results later this week include Airbnb, Pfizer and Uber Technologies. Although the dispute over Boeing and Airbus subsidies had already been settled in June, Boeing still rose by 3.6%. Otherwise, the balance sheet season went into a new round with figures from - among others - Trivago (unchanged) and ON Semiconductor (+14.3%). At Trivago, the outlook slowed down, as the hotel rating portal did not yet expect a full recovery of travel activity for the winter. ON Semiconductor, meanwhile, had significantly exceeded earnings expectations. PG&E, on the other hand, fell 1.6 percent. The utility had slipped into the red due to fires and costs in connection with its insolvency after capital 11. Moderna shares slid $8.04, or 2.3%, to $337.17 after the Food and Drug Administration delayed a decision on authorizing use of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents. Shares of its smaller rival, Novavax, jumped $23.62, or 16%, to $172.45 after the company said it had completed its rolling submission to Canada’s health regulator for authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 gives up 0.5 percent to 29,493 points. The Shanghai Composite loses 0.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong displays a plus of 0.7 percent. The Kospi in Seoul shows the most significant gain, up 1.4 percent.

Treasury yields moved sideways on Monday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting this week that’s fully expected to see policy makers announce the tapering of monthly asset purchases. The anticipated move comes amid rising investor expectations the central bank will tighten more aggressively in response to inflation pressures, which have been more persistent than expected. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was unchanged at 1.562%, compared to 1.560% Friday night. The yield on the German Bund with the same maturity was -0.099%, compared with -0.104% on Friday evening.

HSBC increases MTU to Buy / Target EUR 222 - Trader
Berenberg lifts Safran target to EUR 150 (140) - Buy
Dt. Bank increases Daimler target to EUR 95 (85) - 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.