Volkswagen Group’s software company, Cariad, will enlist Rivian and Tesla veteran Sanjay Lal to speed up development of technology for digitization and electrification. Lal will join a company that replaced its chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief technology officer earlier this year following delays in the development of new electric vehicle models. Starting in November, Lal will lead the software-defined vehicle hub at Cariad to develop two vehicles for the German car maker, the company said. “This hub will consist of a small team that will implement everything we need for rapid software development,” Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Oliver Blume said. “Speed is the new imperative to stay competitive.” Lal was previously vice president of software platforms at Rivian, a U.S. electric SUV and truck manufacturer, and has held engineering leadership positions at Cisco, Tesla, and Android Automotive at Google, Cariad said.

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The Swiss stock market ended the session on a very weak note. Concerns about inflation, the outlook for interest rates and the pace of economic recovery weighed on the market. The benchmark SMI closed with a loss of 100.28 points or 0.92% at 10,763.37, after dropping to a low of 10,743.60. Partners Group ended 3.3% down. Holcim declined 2.6% and UBS Group ended nearly 2% down. Novartis, Alcon, Lonza Group and Richemont lost 1 to 1.6%. Givaudan and ABB, both ended nearly 1% down. Sonova and Roche Holding also closed notably lower. Geberit, the lone gainer in the SMI index, ended nearly 1.5% up. Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, only Adecco and Tecan Group closed on the positive side. The stocks gained about 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively. Meyer Burger Tech plunged 13.3%. AMS tumbled nearly 7%, and Dufry ended lower by about 5.2%. Julius Baer, Flughafen Zurich, Baloise Holding, SIG Combibloc, Bachem Holding, Helvetia and Georg Fischer closed lower by 1.4 to 2.3%. Data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed annual inflation rate in Switzerland rose to a three-month high of 1.7% in September of 2023 from 1.6% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the core rate, which excludes volatile items such as unprocessed food and energy, slowed to 1.3% from a prior 1.5%.

European stocks closed notably lower on Tuesday with selling pressure gathering momentum past noon, as yields on U.S. long-term Treasury Notes climbed to 16-year high amid prospects of the Federal Reserve holding interest rates higher for longer to fight inflation. Disappointing manufacturing activity data from several countries in the European region, and the U.K., continued to weigh on sentiment. Rising wages in the euro zone are underpinning inflation in the bloc but wage growth will likely moderate in the coming months, ECB chief economist Philip Lane told an event in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius earlier today. The pan European Stoxx 600 shed 1.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.54% down, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 declined 1.06% and 1.01%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.92%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended sharp to moderately lower. Russia and Turkiye bucked the trend and closed higher. In the UK market, Carnival ended nearly 6% down, and Just Eat Takeway.com declined 5%. TUI, Burberry Group, Anglo American Plc, United Utilities, Antofagasta, Severn Trent, EasyJet, Pennon, BT, Glencore, IAG, Barratt Developments, Ferguson and Melrose Industries lost 2 to 4%. Pearson, Smith DS, Intertek, HSBC Holdings, WPP, RightMove, Unilever, J Sainsbury and Bunzl posted moderate gains.

U.S. Stocks moved sharply lower in morning trading and continue to see substantial weakness Tuesday afternoon. The major averages have all shown significant moves to the downside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 falling to their lowest intraday levels in four months. The major averages have moved roughly sideways in the recent trading, continuing to post steep losses. The Dow is down 383.64 points or 1.2 percent at 33,049.71, the Nasdaq is down 240.02 points or 1.8 percent at 13,067.76 and the S&P 500 is down 56.91 points or 1.3 percent at 4,231.48. Significant selling pressure emerged following the release of a report from the Labor Department unexpectedly showing a notable increase in U.S. job openings in the month of August. The Labor Department said job openings surged to 9.61 million in August from an upwardly revised 8.92 million in July. Software stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.5 percent nosedive by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Considerable weakness also remains visible among housing stocks, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index tumbling by 2.5 percent to its lowest intraday level in almost four months. Airline stocks have moved significantly lower as the day has progressed, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 2.5 percent to a nine-month intraday low. Networking, financial and retail stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while gold stocks are among the few groups bucking the downtrend. Intel Corporation today announced that it will report third-quarter 2023 financial results on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, promptly after close of market. Intel will then hold an earnings conference call at 2 p.m. PDT that day to discuss the results.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia again show significant losses in the middle of the week. While there is no trading all week in mainland China due to the National Day celebrations, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is down 1 per cent. There is a need to catch up on the downside in Seoul, South Korea. There, the Kospi loses 2.3 per cent on the first trading day after the holiday break (Thursday to Tuesday). The Nikkei index in Tokyo falls by 2.1 per cent to 30,574 points.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries are extending the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 9.8 basis points at 4.781 percent.

UBS lowers Richemont target to CHF 147 (170) – Buy

UBS lowers LVMH target to EUR 837 (915) – Buy

ING raises Universal Music Group target to EUR 30 (26) – Buy

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