Nike jumped 12% to $115.78 after raising its revenue outlook and beating Wall Street’s estimates. The retailer’s largest one-day gain in 1.5 years made it the top performer in both the Dow and S&P 500 on Wednesday. Nike not only scored big last quarter, but it also made some great strategic passes. There was a lot to like in Nike’s latest performance: The company said that revenue was up 28% on a currency-neutral basis in its fiscal quarter ended Nov. 30 compared with a year earlier. Its top line was 5.9% higher than analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected. Impressively, its sales growth is only slightly behind that of Lululemon, which is growing off a revenue base that is just 14% of Nike’s. Net income was flat compared with a year earlier, much better than the 23% decline Wall Street was penciling in. Nike raised its guidance for the full fiscal year, expecting revenue to grow more than 10% on a currency-neutral basis, up from its prior expectation of roughly 5% growth.

The Swiss stock market experienced a clear recovery in the middle of the week. The SMI closed 1.7 per cent higher at 10,846 points, its high for the day. There were only winners among the 20 SMI stocks. 34.45 (previously: 46.97) million shares were traded. Among individual stocks, shares of UBS (+3.7%) and Credit Suisse (+3.3%) ranked highly on the SMI winners' list. The analysts at RBC raised the price target of UBS by three francs to 23 francs and confirmed their "Outperform" rating. Shares in index heavyweights Novartis, Nestle and Roche also advanced by up to 1.4 per cent. Dufry shares were up 1.1 per cent. The duty-free shop operator successfully refinanced its key bank credit facilities. The new facility positively contributes to the balanced debt profile and provides additional flexibility, the company reported.

European equity markets closed higher on Wednesday, after gaining momentum in the wake of Wall Street. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.7% to 431.4 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 each jumped 2%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 added 1.5%, while the FTSE 100 in London rose 1.7%. Perfume maker Interparfums (+6.5%) announced that it has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the Lacoste brand for 15 years, effective 1 January 2024. Oil-related stocks benefited from the rise in oil prices. The seismic research company CGG gained 5.8% and the manufacturer of seamless steel tubes for the oil industry Vallourec rose by 3.1%. TotalEnergies, which increased by 3%, also announced that it had made a new gas discovery with its partner Eni (+3.6% in Milan) off the coast of Cyprus, on the Zeus-1 well in Block 6 operated by the Italian group. Some of the worst-performing stocks this year benefited from bargain hunting. The share of video game publisher Ubisoft jumped 5.1%, however has edged 38.1% lower since the beginning of the year. The specialist in equipment for the production and distribution of green hydrogen, McPhy Energy, rose by 4%, but is down by more than 45% for the year. Digital support services provider Solutions 30 climbed 3.9%, having shed 76.3% since 1 January. Stifel initiated a follow up on the electronics industry component producer Soitec (+3%) with a "buy" recommendation and a target price of €205. The shares of sports equipment manufacturers Adidas (+6.7%) and Puma (+9.5%) were supported by the publication, on Tuesday evening, of quarterly results that were well above expectations by Nike.

Revived consumer sentiment boosted stocks on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 56.82 points, or 1.5%, to 3878.44 with each of its 11 sectors in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 526.74 points, or 1.6%, to 33376.48 while the Nasdaq Composite added 162.26 points, or 1.5%, to 10709.37. Early gains accelerated after consumer confidence data jumped sharply in December to its highest level since April. Sentiment around the economy and labor market improved, while inflation expectations for the year ahead dipped to 6.7%—the lowest in more than a year. Housing market data painted a mixed picture. Existing-home sales fell for a 10th straight month in November to extend the longest streak of declines on record. However, home prices—which weighed on activity by soaring to record highs earlier this year—dropped for the fifth straight month. FedEx rose $5.64, or 3.4%, to $169.99 after reporting earnings that declined from a slowdown in global trade, but not as sharply as analysts had expected. Carnival added 38 cents, or 4.7%, to $8.48 after losing less than expected. Shares of Rite Aid fell 76 cents, or 17%, to $3.65 after plummeting demand for Covid-19 vaccinations and testing marred the drugstore operator’s outlook. American Equity Investment (+5.3% to $45.37) announced that its board of directors had rejected an unsolicited $45 per share cash offer from Prosperity Group and its largest shareholder Elliott Investment. The stock had jumped 7% on Tuesday to $43.1. Tesla shares fell 0.2 percent as the electric carmaker's chief executive, Elon Musk, said he would step down as head of the social network Twitter as soon as he "finds someone crazy enough" to succeed him. Tesla's stock was down 8.1% on Tuesday and has lost about 39% of its value since Elon Musk took control of Twitter in October. Crypto miners were among the stocks struggling the most, especially after Core Scientific’s bankruptcy filing.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Thursday thanks to tailwinds from the US. The gains averaged around half a percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.5 per cent to 26,516 points. Hong Kong is clearly in the lead, up 2.7 per cent, driven by very firm shares in the technology sector as well as in the real estate sector. The recently very volatile technology sub-index climbs 4.5 per cent, Tencent, Meituan and Alibaba advance between 4 and almost 6 per cent. Chinese real estate stocks are boosted by the fact that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has signalled support for real estate developers and wants to promote cooperation with the US audit regulator. Among the individual stocks, Longfor Group adds 2.5 per cent and Country Garden 1.1 per cent.

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields slipped on Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury note fell 5 basis points to 3.677%. The 2-year Treasury note dropped 2 basis points to 4.236%.

Jefferies increases Nike target to USD 140 (115) - Buy
UBS raises Brenntag to Buy (Neutral) - Target EUR 72.50 (65)
RBC lifts Deutsche Bank target to EUR 15 (14) - Outperform

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