Shell launched a $3.5 billion share buyback program after third-quarter earnings rose on higher refining margins, oil prices and sales, but slightly missed market expectations. The London-based company reported adjusted earnings of $6.22 billion for the quarter, up from $5.07 billion in the preceding quarter, but slightly missing market expectations of $6.25 billion provided by Vara Research. Last year, Shell posted third-quarter adjusted earnings - a metric that strips out certain commodity-price adjustments and one-time charges - of $9.45 billion as it benefited from exceptionally strong natural gas and fuel demand. The company said the quarter’s trading gains were driven by higher refining margins, realized oil prices, liquefied natural gas trading and higher upstream production, which all offset lower integrated gas volumes. Total oil and gas production decreased by 9%, mainly due to more planned maintenance at the Prelude platform offshore Australia, at its Trinidad and Tobago operations, and production-sharing contract effects in the Pearl GTL plant in Qatar.

Despite data showing a drop in the nation's consumer confidence, the Switzerland stock market ended on a bright note on Thursday, tracking positive global markets amid rising optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 88.09 points or 0.84% at 10,591.98. The index touched a high of 10,611.61 in the session. Geberit, up 9.5%, was the biggest gainer in the SMI index. The stock gained on strong results, and an upward revision in earnings guidance. Sika gained 4%. Kuehne & Nagel, Sonova, Partners Group, Richemont and Holcim gained 2.2 to 3.2%. ABB and Givaudan both gained about 1.5%. Nestle advanced 1.15%, and UBS Group climbed nearly 1%. Swisscom drifted down 6.4% after trimming its revenue guidance. Novartis, Swiss Re and Logitech ended lower by 0.65%, 0.54%, and 0.22%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, Adecco soared nearly 14% after the company reported stronger than expected third-quarter earnings and revenue. VAT Group climbed 5.25% and AMS surged nearly 5%. Sandoz, Georg Fischer, Barry Callebaut, SGS and Flughafen Zurich gained 3.2 to 4.1%. Belimo Holding, Clariant, Straumann Holding, Schindler Ps, Schindler Holding, SIG Combibloc and Lindt & Spruengli ended higher by 2 to 3%.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending recent gains, amid rising optimism about the outlook for interest rates after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.58%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 1.42% up, Germany's DAX gained 1.48% and France's CAC 40 surged 1.85%, while Switzerland's SMI advanced 0.84%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains. Russia, the only European market to settle in negative territory today, ended with a modest loss. In the UK market, British Land Company rallied more than 7%, and Just Eat Takeaway.com gained about 6%. BT Group gained nearly 6% after quarterly earnings beat forecasts. ICP, Land Securities, Segro, Experian and Smith & Nephew gained 4 to 6%. Royal Dutch Shell gained more than 4% after the oil giant announced a $3.5 billion share buyback after reporting $6.2 billion profit for the third quarter, matching estimates. Anglo American Plc, Carnival, TUI, Sainsbury, Lloyds Banking, Persimmon, Royal Mail, Johnson Matthey, Ashtead, Legal & General, Ferguson and Croda International also posted strong gains. Entain drifted down 6.6% after lowering its profit margin forecast for the year. Hima Pharmaceuticals ended nearly 5% down, despite forecasting core operating margin growth for its generics business at the upper end of its earlier guidance for this year. Centrica and GSK ended lower by about 3% and 2.25%, respectively. In the German market, Siemens Energy, Fresenius and Porsche gained 5.2 to 6.5%.

Extending the strong upward move seen over the past several sessions, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. The major averages all showed significant moves to the upside, climbing further off last week's multi-month lows. The major averages saw continued strength going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 564.50 points or 1.7 percent to 33,839.08, the Nasdaq surged 232.72 points or 1.8 percent to 13,294.19 and the S&P 500 spiked 79.92 points or 1.9 percent to 4,317.78. The latest economic data added to the optimism about rates, with the Labor Department releasing a report showing an unexpected uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 28th. The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 217,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 210,000 originally reported for the previous week. Banking stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 4.5 percent spike by the KBW Bank Index. Interest rate-sensitive housing also saw substantial strength on the day, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index surging by 3.4 percent. A significant increase by the price of crude oil also contributed to a rally by oil service stocks, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 3.4 percent. Airline, commercial real estate and telecom stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

The prospect of a possible interest rate hike in the US also fueled the Asian stock markets on Friday. There was no trading in Tokyo due to a public holiday. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose by 2.5 per cent in late trading, while the Chinese CSI 300, which tracks the share prices of the largest companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, rose by 0.8 per cent.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher, extending the notable advance seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled by 12.0 basis points to 4.669 percent.

Bank of America raises Daimler Truck to EUR 46 (45) – Buy
HSBC lowers Siemens Energy to EUR 14 (17) – Buy
UBS lowers Autoneum to CHF 110 (127) – Neutral

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