Bayer and Cinven have entered into a definitive agreement regarding the sale of Bayer's Environmental Science Professional business for a purchase price of 2.6 billion U.S. dollars (2.4 billion euros), Bayer announced. "This divestment represents a very attractive purchase price and allows us to focus on our core agricultural business and the successful implementation of our Crop Science Division growth strategy," said Rodrigo Santos, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division. Environmental Science Professional is a global leader offering environmental solutions to control pests, diseases and weeds in non-agricultural areas such as vector control, professional pest management, vegetation management, forestry, and turf and ornamentals. In 2021, the business had approximately 800 employees supporting operations and sales in more than 100 countries. It is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, USA. Bayer had announced its decision to divest the business in February 2021.

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The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's trading session with losses. After the strong rally the previous day, investors now took profits. The SMI lost 0.9 per cent to 11,391 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 16 price losers and 4 price winners. 59.26 (previously: 74.97) million shares were traded. Novartis (+1.2%), a defensive index heavyweight, remained at the top of the SMI. Zurich Insurance (+0.2%) and Swiss Life (+0.7%) also posted gains. After the share price of luxury stock Richemont shot up by over 12 per cent the previous day on hopes of diplomatic progress in the Ukraine war, investors now took profits. The share lost 3.5 per cent and brought up the rear. Banking stocks also took profits. UBS fell by 1.4 per cent and Credit Suisse by 3.0 per cent. Following the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital, which was costly for Credit Suisse, the variable compensation of the executives has now been cut by 64 per cent.

The main European equity indices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by the lack of progress on the diplomatic front in the conflict in Ukraine and the European Central Bank's (ECB) more restrictive tone towards inflation. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.7% to 427.1 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 lost 2.8% and 2.6% respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 dropped 2.9%, while in London, the FTSE 100 fell 1.3%. The European Central Bank said it would phase out its large bond-buying program sooner than expected and paved the way for interest-rate increases later this year, roiling financial markets and underscoring the challenge that Europe faces in managing the potential stagflationary shock caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. The ECB’s surprise decision weighed on the euro and drove up the borrowing costs of heavily indebted European governments such as Italy’s as investors anticipated less support from an enormous buyer of sovereign debt. Hapag-Lloyd AG said Thursday that its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2021 jumped, and that it expects its earnings for the first half of this year to be very strong before they begin to return to more normal levels during the second half. The German shipping operator posted a net profit of 3.52 billion euros ($3.90 billion), compared with EUR397 million in the last quarter of 2020.

U.S. stocks declined and oil prices reversed early gains, as cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine yielded little progress and inflation readings reached a 40-year high. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 125.58 points, or almost 1%, to close Thursday at 13129.96. The S&P shed 18.36 points, or about 0.4%, to 4259.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 112.18 points, or 0.3%, to 33174.07. Peloton Interactive Co. ’s new chief executive is looking to overhaul the stationary-bike maker’s pricing strategy in a bid to turn around the company. The company on Friday will start testing a new pricing system in which customers pay a single monthly fee that covers both the namesake stationary bike and a monthly subscription to workout courses. If a customer cancels, Peloton would take back the bike with no charge. Select Peloton stores in Texas, Florida, Minnesota and Denver will for a limited period offer a bike and subscription for between $60 and $100 a month, an experiment that aims to find a price proposition that will help return Peloton to profitability without crippling growth. Goldman Sachs is set to become the first major U.S. bank to exit Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, three decades after becoming the first Western bank to go into business with the Russian government after the fall of the Soviet Union. The bank announced Thursday it was taking steps to wind down its operations in Russia.

After the interim recovery on Thursday, share prices in East Asia are heading down again on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index loses 2.4 per cent to 25,065 points, also held back by the strengthening dollar against the yen. In Hong Kong the index fell by 3.5 per cent, in Shanghai by 2.1 per cent. In Seoul (-1.0%), market participants also point to a significantly shrunken current account surplus caused by higher imports, again as a result of higher energy and commodity prices.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell back below the 2% level in Asia. The benchmark lost some ground Thursday after the dismal inflation data but bounced back to pierce 2% and hit its highest since Feb

CS lowers Adidas target to EUR 240 (290) – Neutral

JPM raises Eni target to EUR 19.50 (19) – Overweight

BoA raises Danone to Neutral

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