Shares in Siemens dropped after the company reported third-quarter revenue and earnings that came short of expectations. The German industrial company said that revenue for the April-to-June period grew 10% to 18.9 billion euros ($20.7 million). Orders also increased, rising 15% to EUR24.2 billion from EUR22.0 billion in the same period a year earlier. Net profit was EUR1.4 billion compared with a net loss of EUR1.5 billion in the prior-year period. Revenue missed expectations by 2% and earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization came in 5% below expectations. Analyst Gael de-Bray said in a research note, noting the results were somewhat disappointing. However, group orders beat consensus by 9%, with a strong book-to-bill ratio of 1.28 driven by some large orders in mobility, de-Bray said.

The Switzerland stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday after data from the Labor Department showed U.S. consumer price inflation rose less than expected in the month of July. The tamer than expected inflation data, and a report showing an increase in weekly jobless claims in the U.S. have raised hopes the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 68.25 points or 0.62% at 11,149.79 after moving between 11,106.90 and 11,189.10. Partners Group and Richemont gained 2.61% and 2.52%, respectively. Givaudan and Kuehne & Nagel gained 2.1% and 2%, respectively. Lonza Group surged 1.86%. Sonova gained about 1.6%, while Logitech and Swiss Life Holding both ended higher by 1.39%. Sika advanced about 1.1%. Zurich Insurance gained about 0.6% after delivering strong results in the first six months of the year. ABB declined 2.2%. Novartis edged down marginally.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday with investors reacting positively to the latest batch of earnings announcements, and data showing cooler than expected U.S. inflation reading for the month of July. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.79%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.41%, Germany's DAX jumped -0.91% and France's CAC 40 surged 1.52%, while Switzerland's SMI ended higher by 0.62%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Austria, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Turkiye closed weak, while Czech Republic and Norway ended flat. In the UK market, Burberry Group, Hiscox, Croda International, Flutter Entertainment, Haleon, Prudential, Severn Trent and Diageo gained 2 to 2.8%. Persimmon gained more than 2% after it forecast annual profit in line with expectations. CRH, Experian, RightMove, IHG, Entain, United Utilities, JD Sports Fashion, Anglo American and Schrodders advanced 1.5 to 2%. Rio Tinto dropped 3.3%. Spirax-Sarco Engineering ended lower by 2.35%. Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Natwest Group, Ashtead Group, HSBC Holdings, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Barclays lost 0.6 to 1.8%. In the German market, Allianz climbed nearly 5% after it posted a better-than-expected 18% rise in second-quarter net profit. Fresenius, Hannover Rueck and Sartorius gained 4 to 4.2%.

After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks largely offset the rally over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, ending the day just above the unchanged line. The Dow surged by more than 450 points in early trading but ended the day up just 52.79 points or 0.2 percent at 35,176.15. The Nasdaq edged up 15.96 points or 0.1 percent at 13,737.99, while the S&P 500 crept up 1.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,468.83. The early rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing the annual rate of consumer price inflation accelerated by slightly less than expected in the month of July. The report said the annual rate of growth by consumer prices accelerated to 3.2 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June, while economists had expected the pace of price growth to accelerate to 3.3 percent. Despite the pullback by the broader markets, networking stocks saw continued strength, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index climbing by 1.9 percent after ending Wednesday's trading at its lowest closing level in well over two months. Within the networking sector, Infinera (INFN) and Viasat (VSAT) posted standout gains after reporting their quarterly results. Telecom stocks also held on to notable gains, driving the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index up by 1.0 percent to a three-month closing high.

Negative signs dominate the stock markets in East Asia and Australia at the end of the week. The Japanese stock market is closed on Friday for a holiday. Meanwhile, the problems of the domestic real estate sector push the Chinese stock markets into the red. In Shanghai, the Composite Index fell by 1.2 per cent.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries came under pressure late in the trading day after showing a lack of direction for much of the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 6.8 basis points to 4.080 percent.

UBS raises ING to EUR 17.60 (16.90) – Buy
UBS lowers MTU to Neutral (Buy) – Target EUR 230 (270)
Citi raises Fraport to EUR 63 (60) – Buy

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