On Thursday, shares of Ford Motor Co. declined by 2.3%, thus pulling back from a 10-month closing high in the previous session, amid broad equity-market weakness even though the automaker reported its second-quarter U.S. vehicle sales having risen 11.2%. Second-quarter U.S. truck sales increased 26.2%, with F-Series sales rising 34%, Ford F said. Electric-vehicle sales continue to grow, with June EV sales up 35.5% and sales of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck up 119% from a year ago and 4.1% higher than the first quarter. On Wednesday, General Motors Co. reported second-quarter U.S. sales that rose 19%. And earlier this week, Tesla Inc. TSLA, Rivian Automotive Inc. RIVN and other automakers reported sales data as well, lifting the sector. Analysts at TPH raised their price target and 2023 estimates for Ford, saying that they are “increasingly constructive” on the outlook for the company given that consumer demand remains robust. The analysts raised their earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) estimates to $3 billion for the second quarter and to $10.9 billion for the year, compared with their previous estimates of $2.2 billion for the quarter and $9.9 billion for 2023. They raised their price target on the stock by $1 to $15 a share, just about where the stock was on Thursday. Ford shares declined by 2.3% on Thursday to $14.98 having gained 22% over the last three months.

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The Swiss stock market experienced a steep decline on Thursday. The SMI lost 1.9 per cent to 10,987 points. All 20 SMI stocks closed in the red. 20.99 (Wednesday: 16.07) million shares were traded. Nestle fell by 0.8 per cent, Novartis by 1.5 per cent and Alcon by 1.0 per cent. Swisscom held up respectably with minus 0.9 per cent. The biggest loser was Holcim (-3.9 per cent to 56.34 francs). Although Jefferies has minimally lowered the price target for the cement manufacturer to 62.50 francs, the fact that higher interest rates affect the construction sector in particular is likely to have weighed more heavily, as it leads to shrinking construction activity. Sika slipped 3.0 percent to 245.10 francs after Berenberg lowered its price target to 280 from 295 francs. The reason being increased financing costs, as a result of which construction activity in Europe and Asia, especially in China, was weaker than anticipated, analysts commented regarding the company, which is active in the field of construction chemicals, among other things. In the second tier, Stadler Rail could not escape the downward trend and lost 4.1 percent. The company has received an order from Austria to supply double-decker trains worth 600 million euros. Emmi edged down only minimally by 0.1 per cent. The investment company Mutares has signed an agreement to take over ‚Gläserne Molkerei‘.

The European stock markets closed sharply lower on Thursday as indicators published across the Atlantic reinforced fears of further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 2.3% to 447.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 declined by 3.1% and 3% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt slumped 2.6%, and the FTSE 100 in London gave up 2.2%. With one exception, all the stocks in the SBF 120 closed in the red. Banks and consumer-related stocks were among the biggest decliners. BNP Paribas gave up 4.5%, Hermès dropped 4.8% and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield fell 5.6%. Casino gained 1.4%, an insignificant rise after the share price had fallen by almost 60% since 28 June. Rubis, the petroleum products distribution and storage group (-2.5%), announced on Thursday that its subsidiary specialising in photovoltaic electricity production, Rubis Photosol, had acquired a portfolio of 10 photovoltaic projects in the Italian region of Lazio from Ib Vogt GmbH, representing a total of around 100 megawatts peak (MWp). Industrial gases specialist Air Liquide (-3.4%) confirmed on Wednesday evening that it planned to cut 430 jobs in its homecare division in France, as part of a reorganisation across the whole company.

Stocks and bonds sold off on Thursday after another round of strong economic data solidified expectations of further interest-rate increases. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite each shed 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 366 points, or 1.1%. All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 closed in the red. It was the worst performance since May. Despite long-running fears that the economy is headed for a recession, economic data continues to show a resilient U.S. economy. That has raised concerns that the Federal Reserve, which will hold its next policy meeting at the end of this month, will hold interest rates higher for longer than investors had hoped as it seeks to curtail inflation. Energy stocks fell 2.4%. Crude oil futures were little changed, settling at $71.80 per barrel. Consumer discretionary stocks fell 1.6%. Bank stocks slipped in response to higher bond yields. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index fell 1.6%. Morgan Stanley shares slipped 3%. Jetblue Airways slumped 7.2 per cent. The airline is abandoning plans for a joint venture with American Airlines (-2.4 per cent) after a negative court ruling and is instead focusing on the $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines (+1.1 per cent). UPS lost 0.4 per cent. Wage negotiations have stalled at the parcel service. A highly profit-dilutive capital increase caused VBI Vaccines' share price to plummet by around 50 per cent to an all-time low. The stock price of Histogen soared by 5.2 per cent. The biotechnology company is examining strategic options such as the sale of assets, financing alternatives, licensing agreements as well as mergers and acquisitions in order to increase the company's value.

Stocks in Asia mostly fell. The stock exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong drop 0.4 and 1.0 per cent respectively. Poly Developments buck the trend, rising 0.9 per cent following first-quarter profit growth. In South Korea, the Kospi slips 1.2 per cent - weighed down by heavyweight Samsung Electronics. The electronics giant expects profits to slump for the full year and anticipates its weakest performance in more than 14 years after weak second-quarter figures. The share price plunges 1.8 per cent. SK Hynix loses 1.7 per cent in tow. Japan's Nikkei-225 gives up 0.5 per cent. As market rates rise, technology stocks are among the weakest, with Panasonic Holdings down 2.4 per cent and Mitsui Fudosan down 2.2 per cent along with Recruit Holdings down 2.0 per cent.

The policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday, finishing at its highest since March, after data showed the U.S. private sector added more than twice as many jobs as expected for last month. The 10-year Treasury note yield added 4 basis points to 4.033%. The 2-year Treasury note yield increased by 4 basis points to 4.989%, after climbing to a sixteen-year high of over 5% during the trading session.

Target price Holcim: Jefferies downgrades to CHF 62.50 (62.60) - Hold

Rating U-blox: Baader Helvea raises to Buy (Add) - Target 139 (160) CHF

Target price Stadler Rail: Kepler Cheuvreux cuts to 29 (30) CHF - Reduce

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