Japan's Sony Corp. reported that its first-quarter net income attributable to shareholders declined 17 percent to 217.55 billion Japanese yen from 261.09 billion yen in the previous year. Earnings per share were 175.67 yen, down from 209.66 yen last year. Operating income fell 31 percent to 253.04 billion yen from 364.87 billion yen a year ago. Total sales and financial services revenue, however, increased 33 percent to 2.96 trillion yen from 2.23 trillion yen last year. Sales were 2.28 trillion yen, up from 2.02 trillion yen a year ago. On a constant currency basis, sales increased around 28 percent. Looking ahead for fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, the company now expects net earnings attributable to stockholders of 860 billion yen, 2.4 percent higher than previous estimate of 840 billion yen. The company continues to expect operating income of 1.17 trillion yen.

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The Swiss market ended higher on Wednesday after a cautious session in which stock prices moved in a very tight range as investors looked ahead to key U.S. inflation data for clues about future rate hikes. The benchmark SMI, which moved between 11,081.54 and 11,146.22, ended the day's session with a gain of 24.22 points or 0.22% at 11,081.54. UBS Group gained about 1%. Novartis, ABB, Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance Group, Alon and Swisscom ended higher by 0.5 to 0.8%. Partners Group declined 1.06% and Sika ended lower by 0.75%. Lonza Group, Givaudan and Roche Holding also closed weak. In the Mid Price index, Helvetia and Meyer Burger Tech both gained nearly 2%. Dufry climbed 1.6%. Tecan Group, PSP Swiss Property, Georg Fischer, Adecco, Flughafen Zurich, Clariant and Swiss Prime Site gained 0.6 to 1.2%. Bachem Holding tumbled 5%. AMS and DocMorris ended lower by 1.61% and 1.57%, respectively.

European markets closed on a firm note on Wednesday, led by gains in mining and banking sectors. The mood, however, remained somewhat cautious with investors awaiting key inflation data from the U.S. Concerns about China's deflation, and economic slowdown continued to weigh. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.43%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 0.8%, Germany's DAX gained 0.49% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.72%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.22% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains. Czech Republic, Ireland and Poland ended weak. In the UK market, BP, IHG, Shell, Glencore, Haleon, Unite Group, Antofagasta and Standard Chartered gained 1.5 to 3%. BT Group, Weir Group, AstraZeneca, GSK, Rentokil Initial, Admiral Group, Barclays, Phoenix Group Holdings, British American Tobacco, Reckitt Benckiser, DCC and Segro also posted strong gains. Hiscox dropped more than 6%. Flutter Entertainment ended down 3.4% despite the online betting firm reporting a return to profitability for the first half of the year. Severn Trent ended lower by about 3.4%. RS Group, United Utilities, JD Sports Fashion, IAG and Scottish Mortgage declined 1 to 2.3%. In the German market, Vonovia rallied nearly 4%.

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Wednesday before ending the day mostly lower. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 falling to their lowest closing levels in a month. The major averages came under pressure going into the close, finishing the session firmly in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 162.31 points or 1.2 percent to 13,722.02, the S&P 500 slid 31.67 points or 0.7 percent to 4,467.71 and the Dow fell 191.13 points or 0.5 percent at 35,123.36. The lower close on Wall Street came as traders remained cautious ahead of the release of a key report on consumer price inflation on Thursday. Economists expect the report to show consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in July, matching the uptick seen in June. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, are also expected to rise by 0.2 percent for the second straight month. Computer hardware stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, contributing to the steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plunged by 4.4 percent. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) led the way lower plummeting by 23.4 percent after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results but providing disappointing revenue guidance for fiscal 2024.

Stock markets in East Asia and Australia are mixed on Thursday. Negative cues from Wall Street push Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 1 per cent. Shares of Techtronic slump 18.2 per cent there after the company reported disappointing financial results. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index more than made up for initial losses and is currently trading 0.7 per cent higher.

In the bond market, treasuries saw modest strength after ending the previous session notably higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.4 basis points to 4.012 percent.

Bank of America lowers Glencore target to 500 (520) GBp – Buy

UBS raises Scout24 target to EUR 53.40 (51.40) – Sell

Citi raises United Internet target to EUR 16.70 (14.50) – Neutral

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