On the heels of competing megadeals, Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported a combined $15.6 billion in profits Friday, as oil and fuel prices climbed in the third quarter. Exxon’s quarterly earnings of $9.1 billion were less than half of last year’s quarterly record but rose 15% from the previous quarter. Margins for making fuel widened and the company’s oil refineries produced more than any third quarter since 1999. Chevron said it banked $6.5 billion in third-quarter earnings, up 8.5% from the previous quarter, though it sank from $11.2 billion in the same period last year. Now, both companies must turn to the task of closing their deals, worth more than a combined $110 billion. Exxon expects its $59.5 billion all-stock agreement to buy shale giant Pioneer Natural Resources to close in the first half of next year, as does Chevron with its deal to purchase Hess for $53 billion in stock, announced Monday. Exxon shares were down almost 2% to $105.55 at the close of trading Friday, and Chevron’s stock fell 6.7% to $144.35. Both Exxon and Chevron missed analysts’ quarterly earnings-per-share estimates, according to FactSet.

After a weak start and a subsequent recovery that resulted in a positive spell till about an hour past noon on Friday, the Switzerland market faltered and eventually ended the day's session on a negative note. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 10,411.07 around mid morning, ended the day with a loss of 43.98 points or 0.42% at 10,323.71, nearly 25 points off the session's low of 10,300.82. Novartis declined 1.56%, and Nestle ended 1.44% down. Holcim, Partners Group, UBS Group, Zurich Insurance Group and Lonza Group lost 0.4 to 1%. Givaudan rallied about 4%. Logitech International gained 2.3% and Sika advanced 1.4%. In the Mid Price Index, AMS ended lower by 1.75%. BKW and Temenos Group both ended nearly 1% down. Lindt & Spruengli and Barry Callebaut posted moderate losses. Meyer Burger Tech climbed 2.1%. Straumann Holding gained 1.63%, while Ems Chemie Holding, Swatch Group and Flughafen Zurich gained 1.1 to 1.4%.

European stocks closed lower on Friday and several markets in the region dropped to multi-month lows, as U.S. PCE data raised concerns the Federal Reserve will continue to keep its monetary policy tight. The latest batch of corporate earnings updates were a bit disappointing. The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.84%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.86% down, Germany's DAX ended lower by 0.3%, and France's CAC 40 drifted down 1.36%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a loss of 0.42%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended weak. Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher, while Iceland and Russia ended flat. France's consumer sentiment improved marginally in October, survey results from the statistical office INSEE showed earlier today. The consumer sentiment index moved up to 84 in October from 83 in September. The reading was forecast to remain unchanged to 83. The survey was conducted between September 26 and October 18. The Bank of Russia raised its benchmark rate by a bigger-than-expected 200 basis points as inflationary pressures moved significantly above expectations. In the UK market, Natwest Group shares tanked nearly 12% on weak results. The stock was also weighed down by reports that the Financial Conduct Authority found 'potential regulatory breaches' in its report into a banking account scandal that ousted NatWest CEO Alison Rose. Lloyds Banking and Diageo dropped about 3% and 2.7%, respectively. Intertek, GSK, CRH, AstraZeneca, Reckitt Benckiser, Standard Chartered, British American Tobacco, Unilever, Centrica, HSBC Holdings and M&G ended lower by 1.3 to 3%. Among the gainers, Fresnillo climbed nearly 3%, Rentokil Initial gained 2.8%, Mondi advanced 2.3% and Just Eat Takeaway.com surged almost 2%. Vodafone, Segro, Prudential, Antofagasta, Taylor Wimpey, Flutter Entertainment, TUI, WPP, Ds Smith, Pennon and Croda International also ended notably higher.

The autumn pullback in the stock market worsened Friday, pushing the S&P 500 into a correction and to its worst two-week decline of the year. The broad stock-market gauge wavered for much of the day before turning lower and losing 0.5% for the session, bringing it down more than 10% from its recent high. A drop in shares of Chevron and JPMorgan Chase helped send the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 367 points, or 1.1%, to its lowest closing level since March. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.4% gain, though the tech-heavy index finished well off its session highs. The index entered a correction earlier in the week and has fallen for three consecutive weeks. The mood in the market has darkened in October as investors have parsed a wave of earnings results from some of the biggest companies in America while navigating a punishing bond rout. Alphabet’s earnings disappointed investors, sending the stock down almost 10% for the week, the worst showing since November. Shares of Meta Platforms lost around 3.9% for the week. Chevron shares lost 13%, the worst weekly decline in more than a year, after the company reported quarterly earnings that were sharply lower than a year earlier. Analysts expect S&P 500 earnings to grow 2.7% for the quarter, the first period of growth since the third quarter of 2022, according to FactSet. Still, that isn’t doing much to buoy the stock market. The S&P 500’s gains for the year have been cut to 7.2%, sharply down from the nearly 20% advance the index was sitting on in July.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia start the new week with losses. The war between Israel and Hamas continues to weigh on sentiment after Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip at the weekend. The Tokyo stock exchange is under significant pressure, where the Nikkei 225 index is down 1.2 per cent. The two-day interest rate meeting of the Japanese central bank began on Monday.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia start the new week with losses. The war between Israel and Hamas continues to weigh on sentiment after Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip at the weekend. The Tokyo stock exchange is under significant pressure, where the Nikkei 225 index is down 1.2 per cent. The two-day interest rate meeting of the Japanese central bank began on Monday.

BoA lowers the Campari target to EUR 12.60 (13.30) – Buy
UBS raises the Bilfinger target to EUR 43 (42) – Buy
Barclays lowers the Swiss Life target to CHF 629 – Overweight

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