Swiss luxury-goods group Cie. Financière Richemont SA (+3.5% in Zurich) said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell a majority stake in Yoox-Net-A-Porter to Farfetch Inc. (+21.3%) and Dubai-based investor Mohamed Alabbar, securing a deal--first flagged at the end of last year--that could see Farfetch assume full ownership of YNAP in the future. British-Portuguese e-commerce platform Farfetch will acquire an initial 47.5% stake in peer YNAP in return for 53 million-58.5 million of its own shares, or around 12%-13% of its issued share capital, Richemont said. Richemont, owner of jewelers Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, said it would receive a further $250 million on the fifth anniversary of the completion of the initial transaction, also payable in shares in New York-listed Farfetch. Based on Farfetch’s latest closing price of $7.84, this gives YNAP an implied equity value of $1.5 billion. Symphony Global, an investment vehicle controlled by real estate mogul Mr. Alabbar, will acquire a 3.2% stake in return for the shares it owns in a joint venture with YNAP in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, Richemont said. This will give YNAP full ownership of its business in the region, the company said. Richemont will book a 2.7 billion euro ($2.69 billion) noncash write-down from the divestment, it said, adding that YNAP will be booked as discontinued operations for the fiscal first half ending Sept. 30 and until the closing of the initial transaction. Richemont and YNAP will also use Farfetch’s technology platform as a sales channel under the deal, Richemont said, with most of the group’s brands to launch e-concessions on Farfetch’s marketplace.

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The Switzerland market shrugged off a weak start and kept edging higher as the session progressed on Wednesday to eventually close on a firm note. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 79.81 points or 0.73% at 11,012.87, slightly off the day's high of 11,020.44. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 gainers and six losers, and one share closed unchanged. A total of 25.36 (previously: 26.02) million shares were traded. While Richemont rallied more than 3.5%, Alcon gained about 2.25% and Lonza Group surged nearly 2%. Partners Group gained added 1.5%, with Givaudan, Nestle, Zurich Insurance Group, Novartis and ABB advancing 0.7 to 1.2%. Holcim finished nearly 2% down. Geberit declined 1.6%, while Swiss Life Holding shed about 0.7%. Banks and insurers trended inconsistently. On the one hand, the further increase in market interest rates provided support, but on the other hand, fears that an economic downturn could affect the business of sector companies weighed. While Credit Suisse rose by 0.4 per cent, UBS fell by 0.3 per cent. Swiss Re closed unchanged. Zurich gained 0.8 per cent. Among the second-line stocks, Aluflexpack rose by 4.4 per cent. The manufacturer of aluminium packaging presented convincing business figures.

European stocks rebounded slightly on Wednesday as uncertainty over the trajectory of Federal Reserve policy continued to hobble traders' risk appetite. Stocks have swiftly retreated as investors feared that their optimism that the Fed would slow its pace of rate hikes was misplaced. At the close, the Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2% at 432.1 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gained 0.4% each. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt advanced 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in London gave up 0.2%. Cloud services specialist OVHcloud (-1.9%) announced that its executive vice president and CFO, Yann Leca, had "decided to give a new direction to his professional career" and would leave the company at the end of October, after the announcement of the financial results for the 2022 financial year. Electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric (+1.1%) announced on Wednesday it was considering making a bid for the 41% of its British subsidiary Aveva (+26.9% in London) that it does not yet own. The energy producer TotalEnergies (-2.1%) denied on Wednesday that it produces paraffin for the Russian army, after the publication of an article in the newspaper Le Monde and a press release by the NGO Global Witness claiming to have traced the production of a gas field in Siberia to a Russian air base. JPMorgan raised its price target for automotive suppliers Plastic Omnium (+2.5%) and Valeo (+0.1%), but lowered its target for tyre maker Michelin (+0.8%), in a research note on the European automotive sector. Rio Tinto (-2.3% in London) on Wednesday increased its bid for the 49% stake in Turquoise Hill Resources (+25.6% on Wall Street) that the Anglo-Australian mining group does not yet own by 18%. Under the terms of the new proposal, the Canadian mining group's shareholders will get C$40 (US$30.87) for each share they own. Rio Tinto's new offer values the remaining 49% of the capital at US$3.1 billion, the Anglo-Australian mining group said.

U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday, boosted by energy shares, to snap a three-day losing streak that was fueled by worries about the path forward for interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 12.04 points, or 0.3%, to 4140.77, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 59.64 points, or 0.2%, to 32969.23. The Nasdaq Composite added 50.23 points, or 0.4%, to close at 12431.53. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 paced the benchmark’s gains, rising 1.2%. APA, Apache’s parent, rose $1.52, or 3.9%, to $40.31. Coterra Energy climbed 96 cents, or 3.2%, to $31.27. A data release showed durable-goods orders in July were flat, coming in below economists’ forecasts. Intuit rose $16.21, or 3.6%, to $465.77 after the tax-prep software company reported better-than-expected earnings, authorized a share buyback and lifted its dividend. Nordstrom tumbled $4.63, or 20%, to $18.57 after the clothing retailer lowered its financial goals for the year, citing risks of a steeper economic downturn and a slowdown in consumer spending.Exercise bike manufacturer Peloton Interactive (+20%) announced on Wednesday that its fitness equipment is now available on Amazon.com (-0.4%), which will greatly expand the brand's distribution. Bed, Bath & Beyond (+18%) reached a financing agreement with a lender. The troubled retail chain needed $375 million to bolster its liquidity and pay down debt. Advance Auto Parts lost 9.6 per cent. The auto parts retailer lowered its outlook. Homebuilder Toll Brothers (+1.3%) adjusted its assumptions for home completions for the current year. The company cited labour shortages, supply chain difficulties and higher interest rates. Turquoise Hill Resources added nearly 24 percent. Mining group Rio Tinto has increased its offer for outstanding shares in the Canadian company after rejecting its previous bid.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Thursday, amounting up to 0.9 per cent in Seoul. The South Korean central bank raised the key interest rate for the fourth time in a row, this time by 0.25 percentage points to 2.50 per cent, and also lowered the growth forecast and raised the inflation forecast; yet, this had been expected. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index added 0.5 per cent to 28,466 points after five days of losses. The Hong Kong stock exchange is not yet trading due to a typhoon warning. Trading is expected to resume later today at 1 p.m. local time. Among individual stocks, LG Innotek in Seoul is up about 4 per cent. The company is rumoured to have secured an order for camera modules from Tesla.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged up by 6 basis points to 3.112%, rising four consecutive trading days. The yield curve continues to be inverted, flashing a recessionary signal, with the two-year yield at 3.412%.

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