Oracle Corp. (+1.5% after-hours trading) sales topped expectations in the latest quarter, as its cloud businesses and integration of Cerner Corp. lifted results despite concerns about a slowdown among technology companies in response to economic uncertainty. The business-software giant said a stronger dollar compared with foreign currencies had a significant impact on its fiscal first-quarter results. Revenue rose 18% to $11.45 billion, beating analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Cloud revenue grew 45% to $3.6 billion. Chief Executive Safra Catz said the company’s two cloud businesses now account for more than 30% of Oracle’s total revenue. Cerner contributed $1.4 billion in revenue during the quarter. Oracle announced plans last year to acquire the electronic-medical-records company for $28.3 billion. For the quarter ended Aug. 31, Austin, Texas-based Oracle posted net income of $1.55 billion compared with net income of $2.46 billion in the like period a year earlier. Adjusted for items such as stock-based compensation, Oracle said per-share earnings were $1.03. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $1.08 a share. Oracle said earnings per share and adjusted earnings per share would have been 8 cents higher without the impact of the stronger dollar. Last month, Oracle laid off hundreds of employees as it prioritized its healthcare IT services and cloud businesses, with job cuts primarily hitting staff at its advertising and customer experience group.

The Switzerland stock market eased a bit after opening modestly up Monday morning, but recovered swiftly and kept edging higher as the session progressed to eventually close on a firm note. The benchmark SMI closed with a gain of 90.51 points or 0.83% at 10,990.75, after advancing to a high of 11,013.98. Roche Holding, down nearly 0.5%, was the lone SMI component to slip into negative territory today. Sika rallied more than 3.5%. Logitech, SGS and Credit Suisse gained 3 to 3.2%. Swiss Re surged 2.6% and Holcim ended nearly 2.5% up. Swiss Life Holding, ABB, Geberit, UBS Group and Partners Group gained 1.4 to 2%., Givauda, Novartis and Richemont also ended notably higher. Within the Swiss Mid Price Index, Schindler Ps gained nearly 3%, Schindler Holding, Dufry, Swatch Group, PSP Swiss Property, SIG Combibloc, Swiss Prime Site, Cembra Money Bank, Georg Fischer, Baloise Holding and Tecan Group gained 2 to 2.6%. Zur Rose drifted down 2.89%.

European shares made solid gains early Monday, tracking Asia's rally on hopes that the latest U.S. inflation data will show price pressures have eased further. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.8% to 427.8 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 2% and 1.9% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt increased by 2.4%, while the FTSE 100 in London added 1.7%. Retirement home and clinic operator Orpea (-21.5%) on Monday reported a sharp decline in preliminary unaudited financials for the first half of the year and warned that the situation could deteriorate further in the second half. Video game publisher Ubisoft (+2.9%) announced the creation of a platform entirely dedicated to its flagship franchise Assassin's Creed and designed to strengthen the appeal of the brand. The group has also signed an agreement with Netflix for the development of three games that will be included in the catalogue of the American streaming specialist. Deutsche Bank raised its target price on Axa (+2.6% to €25.5) from €29 to €30.50, while confirming its "buy" recommendation on the stock. Orange (+1%) announced on Monday the appointment of Vincent Lecerf as director of human resources, replacing Gervais Pellissier. As a sign of renewed appetite for risk, investors bought cheaply on stocks that had fallen sharply since the beginning of the year, such as Atos (+5.8%), Faurecia (+4.6%) and Seb (+4.4%). Shares of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, flag carrier of Germany, increased 2.2%. The company agreed with the German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit on a pay hike for pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo. In the UK market, Kingfisher gained more than 6%. Howden Joinery, Tesco, Sainsbury (J), Ocado Group, Berkeley Group Holdings, Flutter Entertainment, JD Sports Fashion and Smurfit Kappa Group gained 4 to 5.6%.

U.S. stocks rose Monday, ahead of key inflation data that is expected to show further cooling of consumer prices. The S&P 500 gained 43.05 points, or 1.1%, to 4110.41 after it closed higher for the week on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 229.63, or 0.7%, to 32381.34. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 154.10, or 1.3%, to 12266.41. All three indexes logged their fourth consecutive trading day of advances. Bristol-Myers Squibb jumped $2.20, or 3.1%, to $72.36 after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drugmaker’s psoriasis treatment, Sotyktu. Gilead Sciences gained $2.73, or 4.2%, to $68.01 after the company said it settled a patent case related to its HIV therapies. Twitter fell 78 cents, or 1.9%, to $41.41 after the company’s lawyers said Twitter intends to enforce its purchase agreement with Elon Musk. Mr. Musk’s legal team on Friday cited a whistleblower payment as a new reason to drop the takeover. Oil stocks largely benefited from the rise in crude oil prices. Exxon gained 1.2% while Chevron added 1.6% and Occidental increased by 1.8%. Bristol-Myers Squibb (+6.9%) announced on Monday that the Food and Drug Administration had approved its drug Sotyktu, described by the pharmaceutical company as the first innovation in the oral treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in nearly a decade.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains. After the holiday break, the HSI in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite are slightly firmer - supported by increased lending. In South Korea, where there had also been no trading the previous day, the Kospi added 2.7%. Construction stocks in particular drove the market: Hyundai Engineering & Construction gained 2.1 and Daewoo Engineering & Construction 2.8 per cent. Tokyo's Nikkei-225 is up 0.1 per cent at 28,584 points. Nintendo rises 5.2 per cent after headlines about strong sales of the game "Splatoon 3".

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields ticked higher on Monday, with the policy-sensitive two-year rate notching an almost 15-year high, a day ahead of an eagerly awaited reading on August inflation. The 10-year Treasury note gained 4 basis points to 3.356% while the 2-year Treasury note was yielding at 3.565%.

Baader downgrades Zur Rose to Add (Buy) - Target CHF 55 (140)
CS lowers Forbo target to CHF 1,350 (1,530) - Neutral
Stifel decreases Daetwyler goal to CHF 270 (315) - Buy

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