Japanese industrial conglomerate Toshiba Corp. said it has agreed to a deal worth ¥2 trillion, equivalent to $15 billion, to take the company private. Toshiba said the buyout would be led by Japan Industrial Partners Inc., a Tokyo-based investment fund. It said the buyers were offering ¥4,620 a share, about 10% above the closing price of ¥4,213 in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading Thursday. That values the company at about ¥2 trillion. If the deal wins support from shareholders and regulators, it would mark the conclusion of years of turmoil at Toshiba, a former leader in Japan’s corporate world that has shed many of its well-known businesses including laptop computers and medical equipment. In March 2022, Toshiba shareholders rejected a management plan to split the company into two parts, reflecting opposition from foreign shareholders including some who wanted the company to be auctioned to the highest bidder. The next month Toshiba put itself up for auction, soliciting options to strategically reorganize itself, including privatization.

Switzerland stock market ended on a weak note on Thursday as investors digested Swiss National Bank's interest rate decision. Investors also reacted to interest rate hikes by the Fed and the Bank of England. The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 10,653.96 around mid morning, ended the day with a loss of 63.74 points or 0.59% at 10,718.54. UBS Group drifted down 4.3%. Credit Suisse ended 3.15% down. Swiss Life Holding lost 4.29%. Holcim and Swiss Re ended lower by 1.84% and 1.47%, respectively. Roche Holding shed 1%. Sonova climbed more than 3%. Givaudan gained 1.34%, while Richemont and Partners Group ended higher by 0.64% and 0.58%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, Zur Rose tumbled 13.5%. Schindler Ps lost 2.46% and Swatch Group ended 2.02% down, while Schindler Holding lost nearly 2%. SIG Combibloc and Julius Baer both gained more than 2.5%. VAT Group advanced 2%, while Straumann Holding, Bachem Holding and PSP Swiss Property gained 1.18 to 1.36%. Despite recent turblence in the banking industry, the SNB raised its policy rate by 0.5 percentage points to 1.50%. The outcome of the meeting was in line with expectations.

Despite recovering from the day's lows, European stocks closed on a weak note on Thursday as investors weighed how the interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and Swiss National Bank might impact economic growth over the near to medium term. Norway's Norges Bank also raised its key rate, while Turkish Central bank decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged. Despite the recent turbulence in the banking industry, the Fed hiked interest rates on Wednesday and signaled further tightening. The Bank of England hiked its key interest rate for the eleventh consecutive session on Thursday as an unexpected rise in inflation compelled policymakers to ignore the banking sector turmoil. The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.21%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.84%, Germany's DAX edged down 0.03% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.05%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.59%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended weak. Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands and Turkiye closed higher. In the UK market, British American Tobacco declined 5.5%. Schrodders, Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings, Kingfisher, Informa, M&G, Imperial Brands, Barclays and Tesco lost 2 to 4%.

U.S. stocks edged higher Thursday as investors weighed the future path of interest rates following the Federal Reserve's quarter-point raise. The S&P 500 ticked up 11.75 points, or 0.3%, to 3948.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 75.14 points, or 0.2%, to 32105.25. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 117.44 points, or 1%, to 11787.40. The major indexes bounced back from a tumultuous session Wednesday in which the broad stock index lost 1.6%. Shares of such banks were among the biggest losers in the S&P 500 on Thursday. First Republic Bank's stock dropped 80 cents, or 6%, to $12.53 a share. Comerica shares shed $3.82, or 8.6%, at $40.70. M&T Bank lost $5.29, or 4.5%, at $112.37 per share. Nine of 11 sectors of the S&P 500 closed lower. The S&P 500's information-technology sector added about 1.7 %, while the communication-services sector jumped 1.8%. Netflix was the biggest gainer in the broad stock-market gauge, adding $26.47, or 9%, at $320.37 per share. Chewy, the online pet-products retailer, reported a surprise drop in active customers from a year ago. Its shares fell $2.83, or 7.5% at $34.93 per share. Accenture PLC is cutting about 19,000 jobs, or 2.5% of its workforce, over the next 18 months as the professional-services company looks to slash costs and streamline operations amid slowing IT spending. The company, which offers IT consulting and other corporate services, said in a Thursday filing that most of the employees expected to be affected will be in nonbillable corporate roles. Accenture said it is still hiring to support “strategic growth priorities.”

Smaller losses characterize the stock markets in East Asia and Australia at the end of the week. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 0.3 per cent. Pressure also comes from the renewed strength of the yen, which worsens the chances of Japanese companies on the export market. The Japanese currency is sought after as a "safe haven" in view of the economic worries. In Shanghai, the Composite Index is down 0.6 per cent. The HSI in Hong Kong loses 0.4 per cent after Thursday's strong gains, but had initially been more clearly in the red.

On the U.S. bond market, yields eased somewhat after the previous day's losses in the wake of the Fed's interest rate decision. The yield on ten-year paper fell by 4.7 basis points to 3.40 percent. The market was pricing in a less brash interest rate hike policy, it was said.

Barclays lowers Swatch to Underweight (Equalweight)
JP Morgan raises target on Scout24 to EUR 63 (62) – Overweight
Deutsche Bank raises BT Group target to 150 (140) p – Hold

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