Apple Inc.'s main manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, is considering a major expansion in India, including possibly assembling millions more iPhones and setting up new production sites as it seeks to further diversify beyond China. Foxconn is set to expand production of iPhones at its existing plant near Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, people familiar with the matter said. It aims to boost iPhone production to around 20 million units annually by 2024, and roughly triple the number of workers to as many as 100,000, said the people, including a senior Indian government official. Foxconn also plans to build a new production facility in the southern Karnataka state, where it would make products including iPhones, people familiar with the matter said. In addition, Foxconn is considering building a new production site in the southern city of Hyderabad as well as a silicon carbide fabrication plant and packaging facility in India for its semiconductor business, some of the people said. Foxconn's expansion plans are under consideration and could change. Foxconn chairman Young Liu visited both Bengaluru, in Karnataka state, and Hyderabad during a visit to India this week, while he also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

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The Swiss stock market closed higher on Friday, finishing in the green for the second straight session. The SMI opened higher but then spent much of the session under water before a late rally - especially among the financials – pushed it into positive territory by the close. The late rally was spurred by a batch of solid economic data that helped to ease concerns about recession. For the day, the index picked up 24.51 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 11,190.09 after trading between 11,134.81 and 11,194.41. Among the individual components, Credit Suisse skyrocketed 8.33 percent, while UBS surged 2.43 percent, Zurich Insurance slumped 1.69 percent, ABB advanced 0.79 percent, Novartis sank 0.58 percent, Julius Bar Gruppe improved 0.55 percent, Swisscom fell 0.20 percent, Swiss Life dipped 0.10 percent and Swatch Group eased 0.06 percent.

The major European markets finished on a positive note on Friday, extending gains from the previous session. They opened higher and largely remained positive throughout the session, finally ending in the green. The strong start was spurred by a batch of solid economic data that helped to ease concerns about recession. The DAX in Germany surged 250.75 points or 1.64 percent to finish at 15,578.39, while London's FTSE rose 3.07 points or 0.04 percent to close at 7,947.11 and the CAC 40 in France improved 63.90 points or 0.88 percent to end at 7,348.12. In Germany, Volkswagen skyrocketed 10.56 percent, while Daimler Truck Holding surged 5.16 percent, Covestro soared 3.57 percent, Deutsche Post rallied 2.39 percent, Siemens Energy jumped 2.21 percent, Deutsche Bank climbed 1.94 percent, Infineon Technologies advanced 1.87 percent, Heidelberg Cement dipped 0.27 percent, Deutsche Telekom rose 0.26 percent and Deutsche Borse perked 0.09 percent. In London, Persimmon soared 4.01 percent, while Antofagasta spiked 2.65 percent, Schroeders jumped 1.85 percent, BAE Systems tumbled 1.26 percent, Rightmove slumped 1.06 percent, Rolls-Royce and Airtel Africa both accelerated 1.00 percent, Scottish Mortgage Investment advanced 0.97 percent, Shell dropped 0.94 percent, Vodafone climbed 0.88 percent, Tesco added 0.87 percent and Rentokil gained 0.82 percent. In France, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain spiked 1.69 percent, while Societe Generale collected 1.66 percent, Veolia Environment and Accor both jumped 1.47 percent, BNP Paribas gathered 1.40 percent, Credit Agricole climbed 1.06 percent, Engie advanced 0.71 percent, Atos sank 0.67 percent, Vivendi added 0.51 percent, Carrefour eased 0.11 percent and Orange dipped 0.04 percent.

U.S. stocks gained Friday after data on the U.S. services sector showed its strongest activity since the summer. The signs of economic resilience outweighed concerns about inflation and tighter global monetary policy that prompted selling earlier in the week. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 226.02 points, or 2%, to 11689.01 as technology stocks recovered some of their losses from a dismal performance in February. The S&P 500 advanced 64.29 points, or 1.6%, to 4045.64 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 387.40 points, or 1.2%, to 33390.97. All three indexes finished higher for the week, snapping a four-week losing streak for the Dow. Two readouts released Friday on the health of the U.S. services sector showed relatively robust spending in February. The S&P Global U.S. Services PMI index rose to 50.6 in February from 46.8 in January. That was the highest reading since June, and it pushed past the 50 threshold that signals expansion. Similar data for the eurozone and China showed that activity in the services sector in both markets expanded last month. The Institute for Supply Management's services activity index decreased minutely, to 55.1 in February from 55.2 in January but exceeded the consensus forecast of 54.3 among economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Dell Technologies fell 0.9%, or 38 cents, to $39.79 after the computer maker gave a cautious outlook weaker demand. Airbnb Inc. is cutting recruiting roles across its workforce as it expects to grow at a slower pace in 2023, a representative said Friday. The human-resources layoffs come as the company looks to grow its head count between 2% to 4% this year. Airbnb declined to detail how many recruiting employees are losing their jobs. In 2022, the San Francisco-based company, which operates a marketplace offering short-term rentals, increased the size of its global workforce by 11%.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia started the new week on a positive note. In Seoul, South Korea (+1.1%), a somewhat lower-than-expected price increase in February is also supporting speculation that the country's central bank could pause its cycle of interest rate hikes.

The U.S. yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped to 3.962% Friday. The day before, it had pushed through to close above 4% for the first time since November.

Citi raises Covestro target to EUR 47 (43) – Buy

UBS lowers Roche target to CHF 290 (315) – Neutral

HSBC raises Porsche AG target to 110 (104) EUR/Hold – Trader

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