Renault SA shares fell Thursday after the company said it continued to experience logistics issues in the first quarter, but reported a jump in revenue and confirmed its outlook for 2023. The French car company reported a first-quarter revenue increase to 11.50 billion euros ($12.60 billion), a 30% increase over the previous-year period. Unit sales were up 14% to 535,000 vehicles. Renault said its inventories grew to 580,000 units at the end of the quarter from 480,000 units as of Dec. 31. The company said it had 273,000 in its hands as of March 31, which it blamed on nagging logistical issues, and 307,000 at independent dealerships, which it said reflects its order book. The company confirmed its 2023 outlook for an operating margin of at least 6%.

After staying in negative territory till the penultimate hour of the day's session, the Switzerland stock market ended marginally up on Thursday thanks to some selective buying at a few frontline counters in the closing minutes. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 24.42 points or 0.21% at 11,390.64, slightly off the session's high. The index touched a low of 11,325.50 in early trades. Zurich Insurance Group, Givaudan and Swiss Re gained 1.2 to 1.4%. Roche Holding gained nearly 1%, while Alcon, Richemont and Holcim ended higher by 0.48 to 0.63%. Credit Suisse drifted down 2.35%. Lonza Group, UBS Group and Logitech ended lower by 1.86%, 1.67% and 1.59%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, Schindler Ps and VAT Group both gained about 2.6%. Schindler Holding climbed 1.85%, while Ems Chemie Holding, Swatch Group and Dufry gained about 1.25%, while Zur Rose, Georg Fischer and SIG Combibloc gained nearly 1%. Adecco ended lower by more than 2.5%. AMS shed about 2.1% and Temenos Group lost 1.6%. Tecan Group, Helvetia, Bachem Holding and Julius Baer shed 1 to 1.25%.

European stocks closed weak on Thursday with investors making cautious moves, digesting mixed corporate earnings from top U.S. companies and fretting about the economic outlook. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.15%. Germany's DAX drifted down 0.62% and France's CAC 40 ended 0.14% down, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.05% and 0.21%, respectively. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye ended weak. Netherlands, Poland and Russia closed higher, while Sweden ended flat. In the UK market, Smith (DS), Antofagasta, Smurfit Kappa Group, Mondi, Persimmon, Anglo American Plc, IHG, Whitbread, Rio Tinto, BT Group, Airtel Africa, Standard Chartered and Prudential lost 1 to 3%. Segro rallied more than 3.5%. Haleon, Beazley, Smith & Nephew, Croda International, Experian, Relx, Next, Glencore and Hiscox gained 1.5 to 3%. Rentokil Initial climbed 1.8%. In the German market, Sartorius plunged nearly 11%. Continental, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Vonovia, Infineon Technologies, Fresenius and Porsche lost 2.5 to 4%. Daimler Truk Holding, Siemens Healthineers and Hannover Rueck gained 1.6 to 2%. Munic RE, Deutsche Boerse, MTU Aero Engines and Symrise also posted notable gains. In Paris, Renault ended nearly 8% down the carmaker said it is reviewing its pricing policies for electric cars worldwide.

Stocks and bond yields fell Thursday, pressured by weak corporate earnings reports and economic data that reinforced investors' recession fears. The S&P 500 declined 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 110.39 points, or 0.3%, to 33786.62, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%. All three indexes are poised for modest weekly drops. Ten of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 notched declines, led lower by the real estate and consumer-discretionary segments, which fell more than 1%. AT&T stock dropped 10% after the telecommunications company said that the slowing economy is denting service demand from businesses. Tesla fell almost 10% after reporting late Wednesday a 24% first-quarter profit decline caused partly by price cuts. All together, profits among companies in the S&P 500 are projected to fall 6.4% in the first quarter, compared with a 10% rise in last year's first quarter. A continued flow of earnings from financial companies mostly disappointed investors, dragging down share prices. Private-equity giant Blackstone fell 0.7%, Truist Financial declined 3.8% and KeyCorp, the parent company of KeyBank, fell about 2.8%. A downturn in the financial sector could hurt a swath of industries if loans get harder to come by. "That's how we fund growth in this economy, " said portfolio manager Colby Stilson of Brown Advisory.

Negative signs dominate the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Friday. The region's markets are following the US stock markets downwards, traders say. In Shanghai, the Composite Index falls by 1.1 per cent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong falls by 0.6 per cent.

The U.S. benchmark 10-year yield fell to 3.546%, from 3.601% Wednesday. Yields decline as bond prices rise.

CS raises the Heineken target to EUR 123 (122) – Outperf.
CS raises the National Grid target to 1,250 (1,150) p – Outperf.
CS raises the Eon target to EUR12.70 (11.50)/Outperf. – Trader

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