OpenAI said Sam Altman will return as chief executive of the artificial-intelligence startup that he co-founded, ending a dramatic five-day standoff between him and the board that fired him. OpenAI said the parties were “collaborating to figure out the details.” The company announced the formation of a new initial board that won’t include three of the four board members involved in removing Altman. The new board will include Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of Salesforce; Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary; and Adam D’Angelo, the only member of OpenAI’s previous board to remain. Taylor will be the chairman, the company said. Altman won’t be on the initial board. The previous board and Altman’s camp also agreed to conduct an independent investigation into his conduct, the decision to oust him last week and its aftermath, a person familiar with the matter said. The new board is expected to add as many as six additional members, the person said, in addition to continuing its duties.

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The Swiss market ended on a firm note on Wednesday, with stocks holding their gains thanks to sustained buying interest. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 10,860.41 around mid morning, ended with a gain of 50.16 points or 0.47% at 10,832.39. Alcon gained about 2.25%. Partners Group, Geberit and Novartis ended higher by 1.34%, 1.11% and 1.09%, respectively. Logitech International, Sika, UBS Group, Richemont, Kuehne & Nagel, Sonova, ABB and Nestle advanced 0.5 to 1%. Givaudan drifted down 1.34%. Roche Holding, Zurich Insurance Group and Lonza Group also ended weak, also with much less pronounced losses. In the Mid Price Index, Tecan Group, Temenos Group, Swiss Prime Site, PSP Swiss Property, Schindler Ps, Straumann Holding, Flughafen Zurich, Schindler Holding, George Fischer and Adecco gained 0.88 to 1.44%. Helvetia ended down 4.4%. AMS ended lower by about 3.4%, and Sandoz lost 2.1%. Lindt & Spruengli and Julius Baer both closed lower by about 1.25%.

European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday with investors digesting the Federal Reserve's minutes, and on slightly easing geopolitical tensions after Hamas and Israel reportedly agreed to a Qatar-mediated pause in fighting. While the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting failed to provide any indications the central bank plans to cut interest rates in the near future, CME Group's FedWatch Tool still suggests the next move will be a rate cut in mid-2024. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.3%. Germany's DAX climbed 0.43% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.43%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.17%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.47% up. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Iceland, Norway and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Finland, Poland and Portugal ended flat. In the UK market, The Sage Group shares soared nearly 13.5% after reporting strong revenue growth in its full-year results and launching a share buyback. Entain rallied 6%. Johnson Matthey, JD Sports Fashion, Carnival, BT and Royal Mail gained 3 to 5%. IAG climbed 2.7% and Intermediate Capital gained about 2.2%. Halma, Smurfit Kappa Group, Compass, Flutter Entertainment, IHG, Diageo, Hiscox, Segro, Pennon, Easyjet, CRH and British American Tobacco gained 1 to 2%. Kingfisher drifted down more than 6% after cutting its profit outlook for the second time in three months. Rolls-Royce Holdings, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Glencore lost 2 to 2.5%. Rentokil Initial, Taylor Wimpey, Natwest Group, St. James's Place, Barclays and AstraZeneca ended lower by 1 to 1.4%. In the German market, Puma and Symrise both gained more than 3%. Siemens Healthineers, Beiersdorf, Qiagen, Continental, Vonovia, Siemens, Adidas, SAP and Henkel gained 1 to 2%. Thyssenkrupp surged nearly 7%. After reporting fiscal 2023 net loss of 2.0 billion euros, the industrial engineering and steel company said it sees profit and higher sales in RY24.

Following the pullback seen during the previous session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The major averages gave back ground after an early surge but managed to remain in positive territory. The Dow advanced 184.74 points or 0.5 percent to35,273.03 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.43 points or 0.4 percent to 4,556.62, reaching their best closing levels in over three months, while the Nasdaq rose 65.88 points or 0.5 percent to 14,265.86. The strength on Wall Street came as continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to renewed buying interest following the pullback on Tuesday. While the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting failed to provide any indications the central bank plans to cut interest rates in the near future, CME Group's FedWatch Tool still suggests the next move will be a rate cut in mid-2024. Retail stocks saw considerable strength on the day, with the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index climbing by 1.1 percent to its best closing level in well over a year. Notable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.0 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Networking and software stocks also saw some strength, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.

A favourable lead from the US stock markets does not reach the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Thursday. The overall trend there is mixed, with smaller losses dominating. There is no trading in Tokyo due to a public holiday. In Shanghai, the Composite Index is up slightly, while Hong Kong is down 0.5 per cent. Trading has already ended in Sydney, where the index fell by 0.6 per cent.

In the bond market, treasuries pulled back near the unchanged line after an early move to the upside. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, ended the day down by less than a basis point at 4.416 percent.

Deutsche Bank lowers Julius Baer to CHF 63 (66) – Buy

Deutsche Bank raises Vonovia to EUR 30 (27) – Buy

Deutsche Bank raises Aroundtown to EUR 2.00 (1.50) – Hold

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