The German group Volkswagen has granted wage increases to its employees at a plant in the United States, a few days after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union ratified new agreements for employees of other car manufacturers. Volkswagen announced that employees at its assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, would receive an 11% pay rise in December. In addition, a programme enabling entry-level employees to reach higher pay levels more quickly will begin in February, the German group said. On Monday, the UAW announced that it had ratified new agreements with Stellantis, General Motors and Ford following a strike earlier this year. The agreements guarantee an immediate pay rise of 11% and a 25% increase over a period of four and a half years.

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The Swiss market edged up gradually to eventually end the day's session marginally up. Stocks moved in a very tight band, and the benchmark SMI, which touched a low of 10,806.18 and a high of 10,853.52, ended with a gain of 19.23 points or 0.18% at 10,851.62. Swisscom, Roche Holding, Partners Group, Sonova, Zurich Insurance Group and UBS Group gained 0.4 to 0.8%. Swiss Life Holding and Logitech International ended down 1.83% and 1.71%, respectively. Geberit and Alcon closed modestly lower. Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Sandoz climbed about 2.2%. Adecco, Tecan Group, Schindler Ps and SGS gained 0.5 to 1%. Meyer Burger Tech tanked 16%. AMS Osram dropped about 5.35%. Avolta ended 2.6% down, and Julius Baer drifted down nearly 2%.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, with data showing a smaller than expected contraction in Eurozone business activity aiding sentiment a bit. Investors also digested the latest ECB meeting minutes and economic data from the U.K., France, and interest rate moves by a couple of central banks in the region. ECB Governing Council member Joachim Nagel indicated at an event in Milan that the European Central Bank might be nearing its terminal rate for interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, the minutes from ECB's October meeting showed the policymakers insisted that a further rate hike should be kept on the table, even if further tightening was not their main scenario. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.27%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.19%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 0.23% and 0.24%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.18% up. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher. Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Austria closed flat. In the UK market, Intertek rallied 3.25%. Johnson Matthey, Royal Mail, BP, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Ashtead Group, Royal Dutch Shell, ITV, Rolls-Royce Holdiings and AstraZeneca gained 1 to 2.7%. Vodafone ended more than 5% down. British Land Company drifted down 4.4%. Carnival, Whitbread, IAG, EasyJet, National Grid, Land Securities, Fresnillo, Entain, TUI and Imperial Brands shed 2 to 4%. In the UK market, Puma, Deutsche Boerse, SAP, Commerzbank, RWE and Allianz gained 0.6 to 1.3%. Porsche declined more than 4%. Zalando ended down 1.6%, and Adidas drifted down 1.1%. In Paris, Eurofins Scientific and TotalEnergies both gained about 1.75%. Sanofi advanced nearly 1.5%, while Veolia, Engie and Societe Generale gained 0.7 to 1%. Stellantis gained nearly 1% after repurchasing 50 million common shares from Dongfeng Motor for about 934 million euros ($1.02 billion). WorldLine, Teleperformance, Alstom, Pernod Ricard, Saint Gobain and Hermes International lost 0.6 to 1.1%. According to the latest purchasing managers' survey results released by S&P Global, the ongoing downturn in the euro area private sector suggested that the region might have entered a shallow recession in the final quarter of 2023. The HCOB flash composite output index rose to 47.1 in November from 46.5 in October. The reading was also above economists' forecast of 46.9. Statistical office INSEE said in a report that French manufacturers' confidence held steady for the second straight month in November, with the manufacturing sentiment index coming in at 99.0. Economists had expected confidence to fall to 98.0. The UK private sector activity almost stabilised in November after contracting in the previous three months, the purchasing managers' survey results from S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed. The flash composite output index rose to a four-month high of 50.1 in November from 48.7 in the previous month.

With the U.S. stock markets closed and the Thanksgiving holiday, business was very quiet yesterday.

Stock markets in East Asia and Australia were mixed on Friday. In Tokyo, prices rose after the previous day's holiday break, with the Nikkei index gaining 0.6 per cent to 33,655 points. The fact that core consumer prices in Japan rose slightly less sharply than expected in October had a slightly supportive effect. However, at 2.9 per cent, they are still well above the central bank's target. The yen initially did little in response, rising slightly. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX-200 rose by 0.3 per cent after the previous day's fall. The mood in Seoul and especially on the Chinese stock exchanges is completely different. Shanghai is down 0.5 per cent and Hong Kong is even down 1.4 per cent.

Treasury yields rose in Asia today.

UBS lowers Just Eat Takeaway target to 2,190 (2,200) p – Buy

SocGen lowers Porsche SE target to 87 (102) EUR – Buy

UBS raises Scout24 to Neutral (Sell) – target EUR 66 (54.30)

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