Elliott Management has tripled its stake in Pinterest (+7.5%) during the third quarter, according to a US stock exchange filing. The investment fund, known for its shareholder activism, held 15 million shares, valued at nearly $350 million, in the third quarter, up from 5 million shares in the previous quarter, according to the exchange document. Pinterest shares have jumped 46% since the Wall Street Journal revealed in July that the fund had become Pinterest's largest shareholder. Elliott had called Pinterest "a highly strategic business with significant growth potential." The social network's stock, which is experiencing a decline in its audience, is down 46% since the beginning of the year.

The Switzerland stock market ended modestly higher on Tuesday despite struggling for direction earlier in the session. Rising optimism about the U.S. Federal Reserve turning less aggressive with rate hikes helped lift sentiment. The benchmark SMI closed with a gain of 26.63 points or 0.24% at 11,026.22. Sonova surged 1.61% and Lonza Group climbed nearly 1.5%. Novartis, UBS Group and Roche Holding gained 1.1%, 0.98% and 0.67%, respectively, while Logitech ended modestly higher. Swiss Re ended more than 1% down. Givaudan and Swiss Life Holding both edged lower by about 0.7%, while Zurich Insurance Group, Alcon, Swisscom and Sika posted modest losses. Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Bachem Holding surged 3.62%. PSP Swiss Property and Straumann Holding gained 1.81% and 1.61%, respectively. Galenica sante and Swiss Prime Site both gained a little over 1%. Zur Rose tanked 12.9%. SIG Combibloc slipped 5.79%, and Swach Group declined by 2.4%. Adecco, AMS, Dufry, Lindt & Spruengli and Schindler Ps also edged lower.

European stocks closed broadly higher on Tuesday, extending recent gains, amid continued optimism the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive with regard to interest rate hikes. The DAX rose by 0.5 per cent to 14,379 points, the Euro-Stoxx-50 gained 0.7 per cent to 3,915 points. Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of investor legend Warren Buffett, announced that it had invested 4.1 billion dollars in Taiwan Semiconductor. Infineon gained 2.8 per cent. Bayer closed even stronger, up 4.1 per cent, benefiting from shifts out of other chemical stocks, according to traders. BASF and Covestro, for example, each fell by about 2 per cent. Vodafone declined by 7.9 per cent after its quarterly report. Citing the deterioration in the global macroeconomic climate and cost increases, Vodafone now expects an adjusted operating profit of 15.0 to 15.2 billion euros instead of 15.0 to 15.5 billion euros. Nordex, on the other hand, climbed 10.2 percent. According to Jefferies, the financial figures were mostly better than expected, but the company lowered its operating profit margin outlook to the lower end of the forecast range due to delivery delays and cost increases. Varta fell 1.4 per cent after a disappointing outlook. Hypoport slumped 22 per cent, erasing part of its recent recovery. Encavis' (-1.4 per cent) quarterly figures were weaker than expected. However, the company confirmed its outlook. In turn, the share price of fuel cell specialist SFC Energy gained 9.2 per cent after the quarterly statement.

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday after slowing increases in supplier prices offered more evidence that inflationary pressures could be easing. The gains were broad-based, with nine of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors advancing. Stocks from technology to energy to consumer staples ended the day higher. The S&P 500 rose 34.48 points, or 0.9%, to 3991.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 56.22 points, or 0.2%, to 33592.92. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 162.19 points, or 1.4%, to 11358.41 as tech stocks extended their recent run. Among individual stocks, Walmart shares jumped $9.05, or 6.5%, to $147.44 after the retailer reported revenue that topped analyst expectations and raised its fiscal-year guidance. U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose $7.66, or 11%, to $80.46 after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a stake in the chipmaker. Home Depot (+1.6%) reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday and maintained its full-year outlook. Alphabet's major shareholder TCI (+2.9%) called on Google's parent company to aggressively cut costs and scale back futuristic projects such as autonomous cars, saying the internet giant would be more efficient with fewer people. US cosmetics group Estée Lauder (+2.9%) is set to acquire high-end fashion brand Tom Ford for about $2.8bn, people close to the matter told The Wall Street Journal. Investors are continuing to watch for contagion from cryptocurrency markets, which have been hammered in the last week as the fallout continues from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. On Tuesday, cryptocurrency prices were relatively stable.

Stocks in Asia mostly fell due to fresh geopolitical tensions on Wednesday. Disturbing reports came from the NATO state of Poland, where there was initially talk of a suspected Russian missile hitting the border area with Ukraine - on a day with the heaviest Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in months. The Shanghai composite loses 0.3 per cent, the HSI in Hong Kong 1.2 per cent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 actually rises, up 0.2 per cent to 28,047 points. Meanwhile, the Kospi in South Korea edges 0.3 per cent lower.

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields slipped on Tuesday, sending 10- and 30-year rates to their lowest levels in at least a month, after October’s producer-prices report pointed to softening inflation and fresh geopolitical risks flared overseas. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 3.767%, down 9 basis points while the 2-year Treasury note was yielding 4.344%, down 5 basis points.

Stifel lowers Roche to Hold (Buy) - Target 345 (375) CHF
DZ Bank cuts target Credit Suisse to CHF 2.50 (3.20) - Sell
Alsterresearch starts Cicor with Buy and target 70 CHF

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