General Motors Co. plans to invest more than $3 billion to make electric vehicles in Michigan, people familiar with the matter said, a potential win for the car maker's home state after recent commitments of auto projects to Southern states. GM is finalizing plans for two electric-vehicle projects in Michigan. One would convert its Orion Assembly plant in suburban Detroit to serve as its hub for production of electric pickup trucks, the people with knowledge of the plans said. The renovation would cost at least $2 billion and would be expected to create more than 1,500 jobs at the factory, which today is lightly used, the people said. Also, the auto maker intends to build a battery-cell factory near one of its assembly plants in Lansing, Mich., the people said. That project, involving a 50-50 joint venture between GM and its battery partner, LG Energy Solutions, would split more than $2 billion between GM and LG and create around 1,200 jobs, the people said. GM officials are in talks with local governments to secure tax abatements and other approvals for the projects, and the plans could fall through or be altered, the people said.

The SMI closed little changed at 12,608 points on Friday. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 price losers and seven price winners. Turnover was 24.95 (previously: 27.06) million shares. The focus was on the two insurers Swiss Life and Swiss Re. The reinsurer Swiss Re sells its life insurance subsidiary Elips Life to Swiss Life. A purchase price was not disclosed. Elips Life specializes in products covering the financial consequences of death and disability, it said. In addition, a long-term cooperation in this area has been agreed, it said. Swiss Re shares slipped 0.7 percent, while Swiss Life lost 0.2 percent. Daily winners in the SMI were the shares of the two index heavyweights Nestle (+0.4%) and Roche (+0.8%).

European equity markets closed slightly lower on Friday after the Federal Reserve reported that inflation accelerated again last month in the United States, a fact that cannot be ignored at its meeting next week. The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.3% to 475.6 points. It gained 2.8% for the week as a whole, helped by easing concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 lost 0.2% and 0.3% respectively on Friday. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was down 0.1%, and the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.4%. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday that its shareholders have approved the amendment of the group’s articles of association to simplify its share structure and move the headquarters to the U.K. The energy company last month proposed to collapse its current dual-share class and move its tax residency to the U.K. from the Netherlands. Shell’s plans also mean that the company will lose its ‘Royal’ designation, and that top executives will move to the U.K. Since its unification in 2005, the oil-and-gas company has been incorporated in the U.K. with Dutch tax residence and an A/B dual share structure. Volvo Car AB, the Swedish car maker, said Friday that it was investigating a cybersecurity breach targeting systems that store research and development files and warned the hack could have an impact on the company’s operations. Volvo, majority-owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the data had been stolen from an unnamed third party, which it said had contacted Volvo about the theft. “Investigations so far confirm that a limited amount of the company’s R&D property has been stolen during the intrusion,” the car maker said in a statement, adding that based on information it had gathered “there may be an impact on the company’s operation.”

U.S. stocks finished the week higher after fresh inflation data raised investors' hopes that price increases may be nearing a peak. The S&P 500 closed at a record Friday, advancing about 1%, or 44.57 points, to 4712.02. The move marked the index's largest one-week percentage gain since the week ending Feb. 5. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.7%, or 113.23 points, to 15630.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6%, or 216.30 points, to 35970.99. Inflation hit an almost four-decade high in November. Labor Department figures showed that the consumer-price index-which measures what people pay for goods and services-rose 6.8% in November from a year ago. Shares in AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. fell more than 10% in trading on Friday after the chief executive officer and chief financial officer sold all or most of their currently vested interest in the company. After the market closed on Thursday, Chairman and CEO Adam Aron and CFO Sean Goodman disclosed that they have sold 312,500 and 18,316 shares in the company, respectively, according to filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Tesla Inc. and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk late Thursday said he might quit his jobs, without providing details about which positions he might relinquish or how serious he was about changing roles. Mr. Musk on Twitter said “thinking of quitting my jobs & becoming an influencer full-time wdyt,” using an abbreviation for “what do you think?” Earlier this year Mr. Musk told analysts he expected to be CEO of Tesla for several years.

The stock market week in East Asia begins as the old week ended on Wall Street, with prices rising across the board. In Hong Kong, IG analysts point to economic data expected from China in the course of the week, such as industrial production or retail sales, which could prompt Beijing to pursue further monetary policy easing. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index rose by 0.8 per cent to 28,678 points, while in Shanghai and Hong Kong the gains were a little larger. Seoul lags a little behind with a gain of 0.2 per cent. In Sydney, trading has already ended with a gain of 0.4 per cent.

U.S. government bond yields edged higher in Asia after they slipped on Friday following the in-line inflation print. The 10-year note yield scored its highest one-week gain since February, as Covid-19 fears ebbed and markets braced for further monetary tightening. The benchmark barely moved on Friday and remained below the 1.50% mark, but it gained 0.145 percentage point during the week, to 1.487%. The 30-year yield, in turn, had the largest weekly gain since January, adding 0.208 percentage point to 1.883% and snapping a three-week losing streak.

IR lowers Porsche target to EUR 83 (86) – Hold
UBS lowers Zalando target to EUR 101 (110) – Buy
UBS lowers Inditex target to EUR 30.50 (31) – Neutral

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