Apple Inc. cautioned that the resurgence of Covid-19 in China threatens to hinder sales by as much as $8 billion in the current quarter - a setback after seeing supply-chain improvements during the first three months of the year. The guidance from the iPhone maker came Thursday shortly after the company posted one of the best quarters in its 46-year history. The whipsaw of news sent the company’s stock on a jolting ride in aftermarket trading - first rising 2%, then falling more than 5%. Many investors had expected a blowout January-through-March quarter and were more attuned to any indications from Chief Executive Tim Cook on his view of the future amid high inflation, pandemic lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine. “I want to acknowledge the challenges we are seeing from supply-chain disruptions driven by both Covid and silicon shortages to the devastation from the war in Ukraine,” Mr. Cook told investors. “We are not immune to these challenges.” The new pain points for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company come as areas around Shanghai, where Apple has many suppliers, face government lockdowns aimed at curbing Covid-19 infections. “Supply constraints caused by Covid-related disruptions and industrywide silicon shortages are impacting our ability to meet customer demand for our products,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, said during a public conference call. Mr. Maestri said the constraints will hurt revenue by $4 billion to $8 billion in the three months through June.

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The stock market in Switzerland was unable to hold higher gains from early trading and closed with only small gains. The SMI gained 0.1 per cent to 12,068 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were eleven price gainers and nine losers. 38.25 (previously: 47.85) million shares were traded. Swisscom rose by 2 per cent after solid first quarter figures. Morgan Stanley said revenues were in line with expectations, while EBITDA was 2.8 per cent above estimates. Straumann reported record sales figures, with the share price rising by 4.5 per cent. Temenos jumped a good 17 per cent. Once again, the banking software specialist is classified as a potential takeover target. The stock market points out that there is supposed to be takeover interest from several sides. The company also presented its figures for the first quarter this week, which were convincing in terms of both sales and EBIT.

European stock markets closed higher on Thursday, following Wall Street's lead after good corporate results, particularly in the banking and technology sectors, and despite disappointing economic indicators. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.6% to 447.07 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each gained 1%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 1.4% and in London, the FTSE 100 advanced by 1.1%. Nokia Corp. on Thursday posted a forecast-beating first-quarter net profit as demand for mobile networks remains strong, but cautioned that supply-chain constraints continued to hurt sales, in addition to the timing of patent licensing renewals. The supply situation remains constrained but Nokia said it expects to deliver sales growth in mobile networks in 2022 due to improved competitiveness. Europe and Latin America had good growth in mobile networks, while sales in North America and greater China declined, it added. Sanofi SA on Thursday posted higher earnings and sales for the first quarter, driven by best-selling drug Dupixent and consumer healthcare, and said that it expects further growth in business earnings per share during 2022. The French pharma major posted net profit of 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion) for the quarter, up from EUR1.57 billion the year prior. Sales were EUR9.67 billion, up from EUR8.59 billion the year prior. Best-selling eczema drug Dupixent alone grew by 45.7% on year, the company said, driving sales in Sanofi’s specialty care business.

U.S. stocks soared Thursday, with technology stocks leading the charge, as investors cheered a solid earnings report from Meta Platforms that showed resilience in the face of rising inflation. The Facebook owner's stock rose $30.78, or 18%, to $205.73 after the company said it had added more users than investors expected in the first quarter. That gain helped send the Nasdaq Composite Index up 382.59 points, or 3.1%, to 12871.53 and boosted the S&P 500 technology sector, which was the best performing group in the index. The S&P 500 climbed 103.54 points, or 2.5%, to 4287.50, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 614.46 points, or 1.8%, to 33916.39. Oil prices climbed, sending shares of energy companies higher, as government officials in Germany said the country is now ready to stop buying Russian oil. Benchmark Brent oil rose 2.2% to $107.59 a barrel. Traders said the stock market was poised for a rally following recent selloffs in tech stocks, including a big swoon earlier in April after Netflix earnings disappointed investors. With little visibility over how higher interest rates will filter through the wider economy, money managers say trading has been thin and prone to whipsaw moves in both directions. Friday may bring a quick reversal to the tech sector's gains if after-market trading is any indication. Shares of Amazon.com fell 7.3% in late trading after the company posted its first quarterly loss since 2015 as sales growth slowed significantly. Intel's stock similarly fell, down 4.1% after hours as the company reported a decrease in quarterly earnings and lower demand for personal computers.

On Friday, the East Asian stock markets followed Wall Street's positive lead, although the gains were much more moderate. The Hong Kong stock exchange is the outlier on the upside, with a plus of 2 per cent after an initially restrained start. Shanghai is up 0.4 per cent. There will be no trading in both Hong Kong and Shanghai on Monday due to public holidays, and in Shanghai not until Thursday of next week. Due to China's strict corona lockdowns, Chinese authorities expect 62 per cent less travel traffic over the holidays than last year.

In the US-bond market, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes ticked up to 2.862% from 2.817%. Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions

CS lowers DWS target by 8% to EUR 30.70 – Underperform

UBS lowers Uniper target to EUR 25 (39) – Neutral

UBS lowers STMicro target to EUR 38 (44) – Neutral

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