Credit Agricole SA reported a rise in second-quarter earnings after revenue was boosted by insurance income in the three months to the end of June. The French bank said it made 2.04 billion euros ($2.23 billion) in net profit for the period compared with EUR1.64 billion in the prior year, on sales that grew 19% to EUR6.68 billion. Credit Agricole said its underlying revenue was driven by its asset gathering division which was supported by an increase in insurance premium revenues. The bank said that it saw EUR1.1 billion in net inflows at its asset-management business, bringing assets under management at the end June to EUR2.205 trillion, a 2.9% increase on year. The bank added that as a group it took on 471,000 new retail banking customers in the period and separately said Friday that its subsidiary, Indosuez Wealth Management, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Belgian wealth manager and investment bank Degroof Petercam.

After spending much of the day's trading session in the red, the Swiss market ended with a small gain on Friday as stocks found support in the final hour. Data showing less than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of July raised expectations the Federal Reserve will end its tightening cycle soon. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 11.30 points or 0.1% at 11,098.48. The index touched a low of 11,009.02 and a high of 11,101.41 in the session. Sika rallied more than 4%. Partners Group gained about 2%, while Swiss Life Holding, Geberit and UBS Group ended higher by 1.5 to 1.75%. Kuehne & Nagel gained 1.12%. Sonova, Zurich Insurance Group, ABB, Lonza Group and Givaudan advanced 0.5 to 0.9%. Swiss Re ended 1.6% down and Nestle drifted down 1.1%. Swisscom, Roche Holding and Alcon lost 0.8%, 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Bachem Holding surged 3.6%. VAT Group ended stronger by 2.7%. Helvetia, Belimo Holding and Straumann Holding gained 1.7 to 2.1%. Georg Fischer, DocMorris, Julius Baer, Temenos Group, Baloise Holding and Meyer Burger Tech also ended notably higher. Galenica Sante ended 1.22% down, and Dufry closed lower by about 1%.

After recovering from a weak start, European stocks suffered a setback around noon on Friday, but recovered well to close on a fairly firm note after data showing a smaller than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment raised hopes the Federal Reserve will soon end its interest-rate hiking cycle. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.29%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.47%, Germany's DAX ended 0.37% up, and France's CAC 40 surged 0.75%. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Denmark and Russia ended weak, while Czech Republic and Ireland closed flat. In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings climbed nearly 7.5%. Mondi gained 5.5% and St. James's Place advanced 4.3%. Flutter Entertainment, Smurfit Kappa Group, Smith (DS), Melrose Industries, Burberry Group, Shell, M&G, IAG, BP and Vodafone Group gained 1.7 to 3.6%. WPP dropped 3.45% after downgrading its full-year growth forecast, while Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Compass Group and Reckitt Benckiser lost 1 to 1.2%. In the German market, Puma rallied more than 3%. Daimler Truck Holding, Siemens, Siemens Healthineers and MTU Aero Engines gained 1.5 to 2.1%, while Allianz, Munich RE, BMW and Adidas advanced 1 to 1.2%. Commerzbank lost 2.7% despite backing its FY23 profit view and lifting net interest income forecast. Sartorius, Qiagen, Infineon, Zalando, Merck, Vonovia and Fresenius lost 1.2 to 2.7%. In Paris, Credit Agricole surged more than 6%. The lender reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, driven by strong insurance and consumer finance performances.

Investors parsing the health of the U.S. economy encountered smooth sailing in financial markets in recent months. This week may have provided a warning shot. America's credit downgrade earlier in the week sparked a selloff in bonds and stocks, arresting markets' summer climb and growing confidence that the country can get inflation under control while escaping a recession. All three major indexes dropped Friday to finish the week in the red, with losses spanning big banks, big tech and major automakers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.1% this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.9% and the S&P 500 fell 2.3%. Many indicators about the country's inflation outlook continue to offer mixed messages. On Friday, the Labor Department said U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in July, indicating that hiring has slowed from last summer. But wages continued to rise at a brisk pace. On Friday, Amazon shares were a big winner, jumping 8.3% after the tech giant trounced expectations for quarterly profit. Apple stock, meanwhile, fell 4.8% after the iPhone maker said revenue declined for a third straight quarter, marking the company's longest sales slump since 2016. Friday's declines came despite corporate earnings largely beating Wall Street's expectations. Of 422 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly results, Refinitiv said 79% topped projections, up from the 66% average since 1994.

Negative guidance from the US stock markets put the brakes on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia at the start of the new week. However, investors were also cautious in anticipation of financial results from major companies in the region, they said. Alibaba and Sony, among others, will report figures later in the week. On the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Composite Index is down 0.6 per cent and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is down 0.2 per cent.

U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yields edged lower Friday, but were still higher at 4.060% this week, closing near their highest level in more than a decade. Those for 2-year Treasurys, which are more responsive to investors interest-rate expectations, dipped to 4.791%.

UBS raises the Oerlikon target to CHF 4.35 (4.80) – Neutral
UBS lowers the Covestro target to EUR 40 (41) – Neutral
Citi raises the Zalando target to EUR 32 (29) – Neutral

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