China Evergrande Group is seeking a U.S. court’s approval to restructure more than $19 billion in the company’s offshore debts, as the embattled property developer pushes forward on plans to complete one of the world’s largest and most complex debt restructurings. China Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, on Thursday filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York, which would recognize and give effect to the offshore proceedings for three Evergrande companies based in Hong Kong, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands, respectively. Court approval of the debt restructuring would make the deal legally binding in the U.S. and would close the door to any disputes against the plan that could be brought in America. Many of China Evergrande’s $19 billion in foreign bonds are governed by U.S. law. Guangzhou-based China Evergrande, once China’s second-largest developer, has been negotiating for nearly two years to restructure after it defaulted on debt payments in 2021 as it ran out of cash and failed to pay its contractors and suppliers. All of the company’s offshore creditors have until next week to vote on the plan, which requires three-quarters’ support to pass.

The Swiss stock market ended weak on Thursday, in line with markets across Europe, as worries about the health of China's economy and uncertainty about interest rates continued to weigh on sentiment. The benchmark SMI ended down 107.42 points or 0.98% at 10,884.89, slightly off the day's low. Among SMI components, only Alcon (up 1.23%) closed higher. Geberit plunged 5.6%. ABB and Sika lost 2.72% and 2.64%, respectively, while Logitech ended nearly 2% down. Partners Group, Givaudan, Kuehne & Nagel, Richemont, Lonza Group, Sonova, Swiss Life Holding and Roche Holding lost 1 to 1.6%. Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech fell 4.71%. AMS, VAT Group, Bachem Holding, Straumann Holding, Belimo Holding, SIG Combibloc and Georg Fischer lost 2 to 3%. DocMorris shares rallied nearly 8%. Swatch Group, the only other gainer in the Mid Price Index, edged up 0.12%.

European stocks closed weak on Thursday, extending recent losses, as worries about China's economic woes, interest rate and inflation concerns continued to weigh on sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.9%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.63% down, Germany's DAX declined 0.71% and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.94%, while Switzerland's SMI tumbled 0.98%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed weak. Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Russia and Turkiye ended higher. In the UK market, BAE Systems ended 4.6% down after the defense firm said it had agreed to buy Ball Corp's aerospace business for about $5.55 billion in cash. Ocado Group, Entain, ABRDN, Melrose Industries and Berkeley Group Holdings lost 3.2 to 5.6%. Persimmon, Hiscox, Schrodders, IMI, 3i Group, Halma, Scottish Mortgage, IAG and Experian ended lower by 1.8 to 3%. Rio Tinto climbed 1.7%. Glencore, Smith & Nephew, Lloyds Banking Group, Centrica and Admiral Group gained 0.7 to 1%. In the German market, SAP, Infineon and Deutsche Boerse lost 2 to 2.5%.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, extending recent losses, amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation. Stocks opened slightly higher, but retreated soon and then spent the rest of the day's session in the red. The major averages all ended in the red, with the Nasdaq suffering a more pronounced loss, as yields on long term Treasury Notes climbed to a 16-year high. The Dow ended down 290.91 points or 0.84 percent at 34,474.83. The S&P 500 shed 33.97 points or 0.77 percent to settle at 4,370.36, while the Nasdaq dropped 157.70 points or 1.17 percent to 13,316.93. In economic news, data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline in the week ended August 12th. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 239,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 250,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 240,000 from the 248,000 originally reported for the previous week. Walgreens Boots Alliance fell more than 3 percent. Boeing, United Health, Apple, Home Depot, Salesforce.com and Nike declined 1.4 to 2.3 percen. Meta Platforms shares ended more than 3 percent down. Intel, Apple Inc and Microsoft also closed notably lower. Cisco Systems climbed about 3.3 percent, lifted by better than expected fourth-quarter results.

The mood on the East Asian stock markets remains gloomy on Friday. After renewed losses on Wall Street, the indices there are also down, although the losses are mostly moderate. Tokyo and Seoul lose 0.5 per cent, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index falls to 31,466 points. Hong Kong is down the most, by a good 1 per cent. Shanghai and Sydney are little changed.

Pressure came from the U.S. bond market. Yields there continued to rise, which had already weighed on the stock market recently. The yield on ten-year paper rose by 3.0 basis points to 4.28 per cent.

Citi raises Sanofi target to EUR 138 (110) – Buy
Citi lowers TUI target to GBP 6.60 (7.50) – Neutral
Citi lowers Lanxess to EUR 31 (35) – Neutral