Shares of Advanced Micro Devices fell 4% in after-market trading after a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter sales outlook from the chip maker, raising questions about a much-anticipated recovery for the industry. AMD, which makes central processing chips for PCs along with a line of graphics processors and artificial-intelligence chips, said sales rose 4% in the third quarter to $5.8 billion and predicted a year-on-year rise of around 9% in the last quarter of the year. Chief Financial Officer Jean Hu said AMD expected strong results for its data center and PC chips in the fourth quarter, although that would be offset by lower sales in other areas where the company has a big presence, including chips used for videogaming. AMD's results come as signs grow that a recovery is taking hold across the semiconductor industry after a long-lasting post-pandemic lull. Intel, a close competitor of AMD, said last week that large inventories of PC chips built up during a period of strong demand during the pandemic were starting to be drawn down to normal levels.

After a weak start, the Swiss stock market struggled around mid morning on Tuesday, and despite emerging higher, faltered again by mid afternoon before managing to end the day's session on a slightly positive note. The benchmark SMI ended with a small gain of 8.97 points or 0.09% at 10,391.16, after scaling a low of 10,352.12 and a high of 10,415.60 intraday. On the economic front, preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office showed retail sales in Switzerland fell for a third straight month in September, but the pace of decline slowed sharply. Retail sales adjusted for inflation as well as sales days and holidays fell 0.6% year-on-year in September following a 2.2% decline in August and a 2.7% drop in July. Economists had forecast a 1.9% decrease. Sales grew 0.8% from the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, food sales grew 0.2% and non-food sales rose 1.1%. Sonova and Alcon, both gained about 2.7%. Richemont rallied 2.05%. Logitech, ABB and Lonza Group gained about 1.7% each. Sika, Swiss Life Holding, Kuehne & Nagel, Swisscom and Givaudan gained 1.1 to 1.3%. Swiss Re ended nearly 1% up. Roche Holding ended more than 3% down. UBS Group and Novartis edged down marginally. In the Mid Price Index, Temenos Group, Straumann Holding and AMS gained 3 to 3.7%. SIG Combibloc rallied 2.4% and Schindler Ps climbed 2.1%.

European stocks closed broadly higher on Tuesday, but suffered their biggest monthly loss in about a year. Investors reacted to a slew of earnings updates and economic data, and awaited key central bank meetings for further direction. The Bank of England is set to announce its monetary policy on Thursday. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.59%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 0.64% and 0.89%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.08%, and Switzerland's SMI crept up 0.09%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Sweden ended higher. Iceland, Russia and Turkiye closed weak, while Spain ended flat. In the UK market, Rolls-Royce Holdings rallied more than 6%. Just Eat Takeaway.com surged nearly 5%. Royal Mail gained about 3.25%. Segro, Kingfisher, Croda International, Experian, Pennon, Standard Chartered and Associated British Foods gained 2 to 3%. BP dropped 4.6% after the energy giant reported a steep drop in third-quarter profits as a result of lower prices for hydrocarbons and lower than expected results from its gas trading operations. Glencore ended lower by about 4% and IHG drifted down 2.7%. Ferguson, Antofagasta, Royal Dutch Shell, Easyjet, Rentokil Initial, Vodafone, TUI and Hikma Pharmaceuticals lost 1 to 2.2%. In the German market, Sartorius surged nearly 8.5%. BASF gained 4% as it unveiled fresh cuts to investment and measures to reduce operating costs.

A busy day for corporate earnings reports ended with major stock indexes higher, though not enough to prevent them from a third-straight monthly decline. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% on Tuesday, to end October 2.2% lower. Every industry segment in the benchmark index rose, with real-estate companies, banks and utilities leading the way. Arista Networks paced the index, gaining 14% after the networking equipment company beat quarterly sales and profit expectations. But the broader index was weighed down by earnings-related selloffs, including in heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, down 6.7%, and contract drugmaker Catalent, which lost about 14%. Vans shoe owner VF Corp. also dropped 14% in its worst day since 1987’s Black Monday stock market crash. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, or 124 points. For the month, they lost 2.8% and 1.4%, respectively. The three-month slide in stocks has coincided with a three-month pause in interest-rate increases, the longest since the Federal Reserve began boosting borrowing costs in March 2022 to slow inflation. In commodities markets, benchmark U.S. oil futures shed $1.29 a barrel to end Tuesday at $81.02, down 11% in October. December natural-gas futures jumped 6.7% on forecasts for cooler weather. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares dropped 5% in Tuesday’s extended session after the company posted upbeat profit metrics for the latest quarter but came up short with its revenue forecast for the current period. The company posted third-quarter net income of $299 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $66 million, or 4 cents a share, in the year-before quarter.

Positive signs predominate on the stock markets in East Asia and China on Wednesday. Supporting factors are the good US stock market data, while the upcoming interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve late on Wednesday is causing investors to act cautiously. The region's stock markets are led by the Tokyo stock market, which again benefits from the Bank of Japan broadly reaffirming its ultra-loose monetary policy stance on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 index rises 2.2 per cent. Shares in Murata Manufacturing jump 9.6 per cent after the company raised its full-year profit forecast.

U.S. yields on longer-dated Treasurys ticked lower Tuesday. The benchmark 10-year yield declined to 4.874%, down from as high as 5.021% last week.

UBS lowers Bucher to 435 (445) CHF – Buy
Deutsche Bank raises Holcim to CHF 63 (61) – Hold
Deutsche Bank lowers DocMorris to CHF 49 (60) – Hold

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.