The European Central Bank won't cut rates for at least "the next couple of quarters", its President Christine Lagarde said, according to the Financial Times. Inflation in the eurozone would only come down to the ECB's 2% target if interest rates were kept at their current levels for long enough, she said, according to the FT. At the end of its last monetary policy meeting on 26 October, the ECB left interest rates unchanged, having raised them ten times in a row between July 2022 and September 2023. The interest rate on ECB deposits was thus maintained at 4%. "On the basis of its current assessment, the Governing Council considers that the key ECB interest rates are at levels which, if maintained over a sufficiently long period, will make a strong contribution to achieving" the 2% inflation target, the ECB stated at the time. Refusing to talk of a "peak" in interest rates, Christine Lagarde emphasised during her press conference on 26 October that this pause in the monetary tightening cycle did not mean that the institution would no longer be raising rates in the future.

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The Swiss stock market ended trading on Friday sharply lower. The SMI lost 0.8 per cent to 10,555 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 16 losers and four winners. A total of 18.08 (previously: 18.2) million shares were traded. Among the individual stocks, Richemont in particular came under selling pressure. The share price slipped by 5.2 per cent. The luxury goods manufacturer experienced slower growth in the first half of its financial year. Richemont also cited a volatile environment and global uncertainties. Swatch likewise fell by 5.2 per cent in the wake of Richemont. Sika (-1.9%), Lonza (-1.4%) and Alcon (-2.1%) registered marked decreases as well. Investors are likely to have taken profits in ABB (-1.0%) after the previous day's marked performance. Index heavyweight Nestle closed 0.5 per cent lower. Among the pharmaceutical giants, Novartis lost 0.5 per cent and Roche shed 0.6 per cent.

The European stock markets fell sharply on Friday, as leading central bankers dampened investor optimism about the end of the monetary tightening cycle and the timing of the first rate cuts. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1% to 443.3 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were down 1% each. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt lost 0.8% and the FTSE 100 in London shed 1.3%. Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell by 0.2%. Speaking at a conference in London, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), warned that the institution had no plans to cut rates "for at least the next few quarters", according to the Financial Times. Orpea's highly volatile share price lost 21% on Friday, after jumping more than 43% the previous day. UBS downgraded its recommendation on Worldline (-7.1% to €12.76) from "buy" to "sell", while slashing its target price from €48 to €12. Reinsurer Scor (-3.5%) published results for the third quarter that were below analysts' forecasts. British spirits producer Diageo (down 12.1% in London) revised its short- and medium-term outlook downwards. In its wake, Pernod Ricard and Rémy Cointreau fell by 5.8% and 4.2% respectively in Paris.

U.S. stocks climbed Friday, notching a winning week, led by the Nasdaq Composite’s best day in more than five months. The tech-heavy index jumped 2%, its biggest one-day percentage gain since May 26. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 400 points, or 1.2%. All three indexes finished the week higher, with the Nasdaq up 2.4%. All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 advanced Friday, with information-technology stocks rising the most. Chip stocks rallied after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported a jump in October sales. Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia rose. Broadcom clinched a record high. Investors brushed off the University of Michigan’s preliminary November survey results, released Friday, which showed weak consumer sentiment and higher inflation expectations. Earnings reports weighed on some stocks. Shares of News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, fell 1.7% after the company reported a slight revenue gain. Illumina shares sank 8% after the maker of gene-sequencing products offered a gloomier outlook for sales and profit. The Trade Desk dropped 17% after the ad-tech company offered revenue projections that were far lower than analysts expected. Shares of Plug Power fell more than 40% Friday after the upstart hydrogen producer and fuel-cell maker warned it will struggle to stay afloat in the next year without raising additional cash.

The stock markets in East Asia were little changed on Monday, trading slightly lower. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index was virtually unchanged at 32,558 points. Shiseido slumped by 14.3 per cent. The cosmetics manufacturer has lowered its outlook for 2023, partly due to weaker sales in China. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose minimally, while the Shanghai Composite on the Chinese mainland fell slightly. The index in Seoul (-0.1%) also declined marginally.

U.S. government debt yields finished mixed on Friday, with the 30-year rate down for the third straight week, as the market recovered from a bad auction of the longest-dated maturity. The 10-year Treasury note yield stabilised, ending down 1 basis point at 4.62%. The 2-year Treasury note yield rose by 3 basis points to 5.05%.

Rating Holcim: Berenberg upgrades to Hold (Sell) - Target 54 CHF

Target price Temenos: UBS raises to 63.50 (59.00) CHF - Sell

Target price Kudelski: UBS lowers to CHF 1.10 (1.60) - Sell

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