UBS expects to complete the acquisition of Credit Suisse as early as 12 June 2023. At that time, Credit Suisse Group AG will be merged into UBS Group AG. Completion is subject to the registration statement, which covers shares to be delivered, being declared effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and to satisfaction, or waiver by UBS, of other remaining closing conditions. Upon completion, Credit Suisse shares and American Depositary Shares (ADS) will be delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Credit Suisse shareholders will receive one UBS share for every 22.48 outstanding shares held. The exchange of Credit Suisse ADS may be subject to certain fees. Credit Suisse Group AG's obligations under its outstanding debt securities will become obligations of UBS Group AG. Additional information on the specific issues of securities will be contained in investor notices that will be distributed in due course by the relevant stock exchanges, including the Official Notices page of SIX Swiss Exchange and, for certain notes, the Depository Trust Company (DTC).

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On Friday, the SMI climbed 1.3 per cent to 11,443 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 18 price gainers and two price losers. 32.98 (previously: 30.16) million shares were traded. The SMI heavyweights Nestle (+0.8%), Novartis (+1.5%) and Roche (+1.1%) were again in demand. Novartis additionally benefited from encouraging data regarding a phase III trial of the breast cancer drug Kisqali. The figures presented by Richemont (+2.3%) for the 2022/23 financial year were positively perceived. Swatch rose 2.6% in Richemont's slipstream. Investors also bought cyclicals such as ABB (+1.3%), Geberit (+2.2%) and Sika (+2.8%). The shares of the banks Credit Suisse (+2.3%) and UBS (+2.4%) likewise posted marked gains.

The European stock markets closed sharply higher on Friday, as investors cheered the U.S. debt-ceiling deal. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.5% to 462.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 climbed by 1.9% each. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 1.3%, while the FTSE 100 rose 1.6% in London. The index rebound was driven by the rise in cyclical stocks. These had been penalised at the start of the week due to macroeconomic concerns. In Paris, Faurecia jumped 7.9%, Renault gained 5%, Eramet rose 7.5% and Derichebourg jumped 5.8%. Rail equipment supplier Alstom (+3.5%) announced that it had won a contract worth more than €667 million to deliver 130 Citadis trams to the city of Philadelphia in the United States. Property developer Nexity (+0.9%) has reached a preliminary agreement to sell its development activities in Poland to the Polish company Develia for a total of €100 million.

For a while, good news about the U.S. economy translated to bad news for the stock market. That dynamic seems to have flipped this week. Major stock indexes climbed Friday on the back of a jobs report that blew past Wall Street expectations, signalling that hiring remains robust even as other data suggests inflation continues to slow. It added momentum to a market already bouncing from Washington’s 11th-hour deal to avert a government default. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped about 2.1% Friday, or more than 700 points, its best session of the year and enough to claw back recent days’ losses to finish the week in the green. The S&P 500 edged 1.5% higher, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1% to its sixth-straight weekly gain and a 52-week high. The S&P 500 financial sector finished up 2.2%, led by Bank of America’s 3.4% gain and Charles Schwab’s 3.2% increase. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index, meanwhile, jumped 6.3%. In individual stocks, shares in athletic-gear maker Lululemon Athletica surged 11.3%, snapping a nine-day losing streak, after the company raised its annual outlook on sales growth in China. Computer manufacturer Dell added 4% following its report that revenue plunged 20% in the first quarter—but beat expectations. Amazon.com climbed 1.2% after Bloomberg News reported that the tech company was considering offering mobile service to Prime subscribers. Shares in Dish Network, which The Wall Street Journal previously reported to be in talks with Amazon to sell coverage, ripped upward by 16%. Echoing how grocery stocks were creamed when the e-commerce company bought Whole Foods, holders of telecom stocks didn’t like the sound of Amazon encroaching on their territory. AT&T slipped 3.8%, Verizon Communications fell 3.2% and T-Mobile US slid 5.6%.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Monday. In Hong Kong, the HSI rises 0.5 per cent, while the Shanghai composite manages only a meagre gain of 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, within the oil sector, SMIC advances 2.1 per cent and PetroChina 0.9 per cent after Saudi Arabia announced a unilateral production cut. Japan's Nikkei-225, on the other hand, is up 1.9 per cent. Here, too, oil stocks are among those in demand, with Inpex up 2.7 per cent and Eneos Holdings up 2.5 per cent. The Kospi in South Korea climbs 0.6 per cent.

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday after the May jobs report showed surprising resilience in the American labor market despite increasing interest rates and heightened recession fears. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 3.698%, up 9 basis points. The 2-year Treasury note yield jumped 16 basis points to 4.450%.

CS upgrades Logitech target to CHF 59 (52) - Neutral

UBS lifts AB Foods target to 1,900 (1,450) GBp - Neutral

Target price V-Zug: Stifel downgrades to CHF 87 (95) - Hold

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