Ahead of its transition from US GAAP to the IFRS accounting standard, Swiss Re announced new financial targets for 2024. The company noted that the new accounting basis will have a positive impact on the bottom line by better reflecting Life & Health Reinsurance or L&H Re's earnings power, and on its balance sheet by eliminating systemic accounting mismatches under US GAAP. As a result, the shareholders' equity position will be significantly higher. The Group targets an IFRS net income of more than US$3.6 billion, and a multi-year IFRS return on equity (ROE) of more than 14% for 2024. Life & Health Reinsurance targets a net income of US$1.5 billion for 2024. The company maintained its capital management priorities, with the aim of returning to sustainable dividend growth. In the first nine months of this year, Swiss Re generated a profit of USD 2.5 billion in accordance with US GAAP. Swiss Re fell by 4.8 per cent on Friday.

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Held back by Swiss Re shares, the stock market in Zurich rose only slightly on Friday. The fact that the Swiss economy grew by 0.3 per cent in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter did not provide any momentum, although economists had expected growth of just 0.1 per cent. The SMI gained 0.3 per cent to 10,887 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, 12 were gainers and 8 were losers. A total of 25.11 million shares were traded (Thursday: 68.58 million). The list of daily winners stretched across all sectors. Roche (+1.5%) led the way, followed by Sonova and ABB (+1.4% each) as well as Swiss Life and Holcim (+1.2% each). UBS - the big winner of the previous two days with gains of around 3 per cent each - also advanced at the end of the week, rising by 0.8 per cent to 24.82 francs. Over the week, the share price climbed by almost 6.5 per cent without any fundamental news emerging from the UBS. Nevertheless, a small price target increase by Goldman Sachs to 34.50 francs provided support on Friday. Richemont was among the winners with a gain of 0.7 per cent. Bernstein had upgraded the share to „outperform".

The European stock markets closed higher on Friday, buoyed by the easing of inflation in Europe and the United States, which is bolstering expectations of future rate cuts. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1% to 466.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 rose by 0.5% each. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 1.1% and the FTSE in London climbed 1%. Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 gained 1.4%. Worldline increased by 5.9%. Crédit Agricole SA (CASA) is considering taking a stake in the electronic payments specialist, with which it formed a partnership earlier this year, Bloomberg reported on Friday. Soitec lost 2.9% to 161.70 euros as Chinese investment fund National Silicon Industry Group (NSIG) scaled back its stake in the manufacturer of components for the electronics industry in an off-market placement, according to Bloomberg. Air France-KLM (+3%) and the investment fund Apollo Global Management completed a quasi-equity financing of €1.5 billion for one of the airline's operating subsidiaries. Kering (-0.2%) announced on Thursday evening that it had completed the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Italian fashion house Valentino from the Qatari investment fund Mayhoola. London-listed copper producers surged on supply concerns linked to production disruptions in several South American countries. Rio Tinto shares advanced by 3.7%, Glencore by 3.6%, Anglo American by 7.9% and Antofagasta by 6.2%.

Hopes that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates turbocharged a broad-based rally, driving prices of everything from stocks to Treasuries and gold sharply higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2.4% for the week, notching a fifth weekly gain to mark its longest winning streak since late 2021. The S&P 500 added 0.8% and closed at its highest level since March 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.4%. On Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered the strongest signal yet that officials are likely done raising rates, saying the central bank’s policy is “well into restrictive territory.” The S&P 500 rose 0.6% on Friday, while the Nasdaq added 0.6%. The Dow industrials added 295 points, or 0.8%. In corporate news, shares in pharma giant Pfizer sank 5.1% after a weight-loss drug showed high rates of side effects in a trial. Shares of Ulta Beauty soared more than 10% after the retailer’s earnings. Production process automation platform UiPath (+27%) reported higher-than-expected results for the third quarter, driven by 24% growth in recurring revenues. Computer manufacturer Dell Technologies (-5.2%) reported higher-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday evening, but sales fell short of forecasts due to limited demand. Semiconductor manufacturer Marvell Technology (-5.3%) suffered an 11% drop in sales from its data centre segment last quarter and presented lower-than-expected forecasts for the fourth quarter.

Asian stocks were mixed. In Seoul (+0.6 per cent), the trend is upwards. The Nikkei index in Tokyo fell by 0.5 per cent to 33,259 points. The HSI in Hong Kong also lost 0.6 per cent. In Hong Kong, the focus is on China Evergrande. The share price jumped over 13 per cent. A court has granted the distressed property developer more time to draw up a plan to restructure billions in debt. Meanwhile, Wuxi Biologics slumped by over 23 per cent after the company lowered its profit and sales outlook. In Shanghai (-0.1%), automotive stocks are in demand according to traders. The recently announced cooperation between Huawei and several Chinese car manufacturers to develop smart vehicles is generating enthusiasm in this sector. Among others, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile and Xiamen King Long Motor Group rallied by up to 5 per cent.

The Swiss bond market continued to strengthen on Friday. Thus, the recent decline in yields continued at the end of the week. According to traders, interest rate pressure is mainly due to the anticipation that the European Central Bank (ECB) will drop its key interest rates starting in the second quarter of 2024. The primary market was not tapped at the beginning of December. Most recently, PSP Swiss Property issued a three-year "Green Bond" for CHF 150 million. During the course of Friday, five of the Confederates were traded at a higher price and one at a lower price. Meanwhile, the yield of the two-year Confederation bond was quoted at 1.176% and the ten-year Confederation bond at 0.8094%.

Stifel lowers Novartis target to CHF 103 (108) - Buy

Kepler raises ABB target to 39 (33) CHF - Hold

Goldman Sachs upgrades UBS target to 34.50 (33.60) CHF - Buy

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