Credit Suisse has divested itself of another asset. The bank's asset management division has sold its 30% stake in Energy Infrastructure Partners AG (EIP) to its co-founder and managing partner, EIP announced on Friday evening. EIP is an infrastructure investor with a focus on the energy transition sector and, according to its own records, manages more than five billion Swiss francs, particularly for Swiss pension funds. The company was founded in 2014 as a joint venture between Managing Partner and CS. Among other things, the company distributes tailor-made investment solutions to Swiss pension funds and is continuously expanding its offering for clients worldwide. EIP has recently been licensed as a provider in Luxembourg. Lately, the ailing Credit Suisse sold its 8.6% stake in the fund platform Allfunds for 334 million euros. The sale of the Savoy Hotel in Zurich is also in the pipeline. The funds generated from the divestments should enable strategic restructuring. The bank will inform the public about its goals next Thursday. The share lost 0.1 per cent.

The Switzerland stock market ended on a weak note on Friday after staying in negative territory right through the day's session. Concerns about inflation and the impact of rising interest rates on growth continued to hurt sentiment. Rising bond yields and a firm dollar weighed as well. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 54.85 points or 0.52% at 10,418.60, nearly 100 points off the session's low of 10,319.86. Sika ended 5.1% down. Geberit declined 2.5%, while Sonova, Richemont, Zurich Insurance Group and Alcon lost 1.6 to 2%. Givaudan, UBS Group, Partners Group and Swisscom slipped by 1.2 to 1.4%. ABB, Roche Holding, Swiss Re and Novartis gained 0.47 to 0.82%, while Logitech edged up marginally. In the Swiss Mid Price index, Belimo Holding shed 4.7%. Dufry ended lower by 3.8% and Straumann Holding is down 2.7%. Flughafen Zurich, Lindt & Spreungli, Adecco, AMS and Lindt & Spruengli are down 1.4 to 2%. Schindler Holding and Schindler Ps gained 3.6% and 3.3%. Kuehne & Nagel gained about 1.25%.

European stocks closed broadly lower on Friday, weighed down by fears about a global recession, and worries on the political front. The pan European Stoxx 600 drifted down 0.62%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.37%, Germany's DAX ended 0.29% down, and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.85%. In the UK market, Glencore, Anglo American, Antofagasta and GSK gained 2 to 3.6%. Endeavour Mining, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered, Severn Trent, Pershing Square Holdings, HSBC Holdings, Shell and Compass Group advanced 1 to 1.8%. Auto Trader Group and JD Sports Fashion both tumbled more than 6%. Frasers Group dropped 4%. RightMove, Next, Centrica, B&M European Value Retail, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Burberry Group, RS Group and IAG shed 2 to 3%. Intercontinental Hotels Group ended more than 2.5% down after saying Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson will step down as Chief Financial Officer. In the French market, L'Oreal ended more than 5% down despite posting robust sales growth in the third quarter. Vivendi slipped by 3.5% after saying it will go ahead with the spin off of its publishing business Editis. Essilor, Kering, Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, Faurecia and Unibail Rodamco lost 2 to 3.5%. Atos soared 12.5%. ArcelorMittal surged nearly 2.5%. Veolia ended higher by about 1.4%. Sodexo and Sanofi both ended higher by about 1%. In the German market, Adidas tanked 9% as the sporting goods maker cut its full-year outlook, citing weakening demand. Puma fell 7.2%. Zalando, RWE, Vonovia, Porsche Automobil, Siemens Healthineers, Henkel, Deutsche Wohnen, Symrise, E.ON, Merck and HeidelbergCement lost 1.4 to 2.8%. Shares of Swedish telecom operator Telia plunged 12.3% after the company reported slightly worse-than-expected third-quarter net profit and downgraded its guidance.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average raced to its best three-week stretch since November 2020, boosted by the prospect of a slower pace of interest rate increases and the latest batch of corporate earnings. Major indexes started Friday with declines before turning higher, finishing the session near their highs of the day. The Dow added 748.97 points, or 2.5%, to 31082.56. The S&P 500 added 86.97 points, or 2.4%, to 3752.75. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite added 244.87 points, or 2.3%, to 10859.72. All three major indexes ended with weekly gains of at least 4.7%, a reprieve after a prolonged period of volatility that has been marked by big swings for stocks and bonds around the globe. Snap shares tumbled $3.03, or 28%, to $7.76, after the company reported a further slowdown in sales growth and signaled the digital-ad market could remain lackluster for some time. Twitter shares slid $2.55, or 4.9%, to $49.89, after Bloomberg News reported that Biden administration officials are discussing whether the U.S. should subject some of Elon Musk’s ventures to national-security reviews. The financial results of Verizon (-4.5%) were received negatively. Price increases slowed down the growth in the number of customers in the third quarter. American Express (-1.6%) earned more than expected in the third quarter and raised its outlook. At the same time, however, the credit card company sharply increased its loan loss provisions compared to the previous year, justifying this among other things with the gloomier outlook for the economy. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer (+4.8%) plans to raise the price of its Corona vaccine developed with Biontech (+11.2%) in the US, selling for $110 to $130 per dose. So far, the vaccine has been sold under government contracts for about $30.50 per dose. The group is currently still negotiating with health insurers.

Asian stocks were mixed at the beginning of the week. China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.9 per cent while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shed 5.0 per cent. There is no trading in Singapore due to a public holiday. Technology stocks in Hong Kong are particularly under pressure. The shares of Alibaba and Tencent declined by up to 9.8 per cent - weighed down by higher interest rates in the United States. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises by 0.5 per cent, while the Kospi in Seoul adds 0.9 per cent.

The policy-sensitive 2-yield U.S. Treasury yield dropped by 11 basis points to 4.500% on Friday and posted its biggest weekly decline since July after Federal Reserve officials seem to be open to debating the size of December’s rate hike. Meanwhile, the 30-year yield climbed to a new 11-year high and had its biggest weekly gain since September 2019. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 4.227%, down less than one basis point.

Berenberg lowers Schindler target to CHF 155 (170) - Hold
Deutsche Bank cuts Zur Rose target to CHF 28 (47) - Hold
LBBW reduces ABB target to CHF 28.50 (30) - Hold

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