Givaudan AG, the Swiss manufacturer of flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic ingredients, reported Thursday that its third-quarter group sales were 1.73 billion Swiss francs, down 4.3 percent from last year's 1.81 billion francs. Like for like or LFL sales grew 4 percent. Fragrance & Beauty sales were 839 million francs, down 0.5 percent from last year, and Taste & Wellbeing sales fell 7.6 percent to 891 million francs. On a regional basis, nine-month LFL sales in Europe increased 2.9%, sales in South Asia, Africa and the Middle East increased 16.3%, and Latin America sales increased 13.1%. Meanwhile, sales in North America decreased 10.6% and sales in Asia Pacific decreased 2.3%. Regarding its 2025 strategy, the Company said it aims to achieve organic sales growth of 4-5 percent on a like-for-like basis and free cash flow of at least 12 percent, both measured as an average over the five-year period strategy cycle.

Share prices on the Swiss stock exchange continued to rise on Wednesday. After the previous day's rally of 1.7 per cent, the SMI gained a further 0.3 per cent to 11,038 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 12 price gainers and 8 price losers. 17.72 (Tuesday: 16.89) million shares were traded. Richemont was the clear laggard with a minus of 4 per cent. Like other luxury stocks, the share was taken to the cleaners after LVMH's growth in the third quarter failed to meet expectations, causing the price to fall by almost 5 per cent. The daily winner in the SMI was heavyweight Nestle. The share dynamically continued the upward trend of the previous days and rose by 1.8 per cent. Compared to the previous week's close, the increase was over 5 per cent. No new news was released regarding the company. UBS was again among the winners with a plus of 1.0 per cent. The market is speculating about good quarterly figures from the USA when the first banks open the quarterly reporting season there on Friday.

The European stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday, following a sharp rebound, as investors awaited new data concerning inflation in the United States and the minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% to 453.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 indexes lost 0.4% each, weighed down by a 6.5% fall in LVMH. The world's number one luxury goods company and France's largest market capitalization reported disappointing quarterly sales. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in London shed 0.1%. Luxury goods group LVMH (-6.5%) reported sales below analysts' expectations for the third quarter of 2023. Growth slowed, particularly in China and Europe, a sign that the luxury goods sector is not immune to the current slowdown in the global economy. In the wake of LVMH, its rivals Kering and Hermès lost 1.4% and 1.5% respectively. In London, Burberry lost 3.2%, while in Zurich, Richemont dropped 4%. Building materials producer Saint-Gobain (-0.2%) said it was ahead of schedule in its target to buy back €2 billion of its own shares over the period 2021-2025. Hotel group Accor (+2%) announced the launch of a share buyback program worth 400 million euros. British oil group BP (-0.9% in London) raised its gross operating profit (EBITDA) forecast for 2030 by $2 billion. BP is now forecasting Ebitda of between $53 billion and $58 billion, based on an oil price of $70 a barrel. The group had previously forecast Ebitda of between $51 billion and $56 billion.

U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday, extending their winning streak to four consecutive trading sessions. The S&P 500 gained 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%. Among individual stocks Wednesday, shares of Birkenstock fell in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, a discouraging sign for an IPO market that was just starting to show signs of rebounding. The company’s initial public offering was priced at $46 a share—then the stock opened at $41 and closed at $40.20. U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk rose 6.3% after the Danish drugmaker said a trial showed its blockbuster diabetes drug, Ozempic, could delay kidney disease’s progression. Shares of Eli Lilly, which makes a rival weight-loss drug, gained 4.5%. Shares of kidney dialysis company DaVita dropped 17%. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s U.S.-listed shares fell 2.5% after the world’s biggest luxury-goods company reported a sharp slowdown in sales growth as it struggled to lure back big-spending Chinese consumers. Exxon Mobil shares dropped 3.6% after the company agreed to buy Pioneer Natural Resources in a $60 billion deal.

In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index is up 1.6 per cent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong climbs by 1.9 per cent. In Shanghai, the Composite Index rises by 0.8 per cent. On the Seoul stock exchange, the Kospi improves by 1 per cent. In China, banking stocks are popular after the state-owned Central Huijin Investment increased its holdings across four major domestic banks. Zhejiang Shaoxing Ruifeng Rural Commercial Bank gains 5.2 percent, Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank 2.5 percent and China Construction Bank 2.4 percent. Toshiba is little changed in Tokyo. The share is expected to vanish from the stock exchange on 20 December in the wake of the takeover by a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners, announced last month.

U.S. government debt yields traded in split directions on Wednesday, as traders weighed the Federal Reserve’s most likely trajectory in interest rates against concerns about war in the Middle East. The 10-year Treasury note yield continued to fall on Wednesday, losing 9 basis points to 4.562%. The 2-year Treasury note yield closed virtually unchanged at 4.982%.

Target price Novartis: Jefferies downgrades to CHF 100 (105) - Buy
VAT target price: Royal Bank of Canada upgrades to CHF 290 (270) - Sector Perform
Target price Roche: Jefferies cuts to 285 (305) CHF - Hold

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