The Swatch Group has won another trademark lawsuit against the South Korean technology giant Samsung. Following a legal dispute in favour of Swatch a year ago, the British Court of Appeal has now also ruled in favour of the Biel-based watch manufacturer. Swatch announced on Friday afternoon that the Court of Appeal in London had dismissed Samsung's appeal in its entirety concerning the dispute over internet trademark rights. This confirms the decision made a year ago that certain watch face apps for Samsung smartwatches that can be downloaded from the Galaxy App Store infringe the rights of Swatch brands. The brands in question include Omega, Tissot, Longines and Swatch. Samsung had offered digital watch faces for its smartwatches that resembled the Swiss group's brands. This was categorised as illegal by the High Court of Justice in London a year ago. According to the Court of Appeal, the fact that the apps had been developed by third-party companies did not change the guilty verdict. Swatch lost 1.1% to 234.90 francs at the close of trading.

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On Friday, the SMI lost 0.2 per cent to 11,192 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were twelve price gainers and eight price losers. A total of 57.95 (previously: 30.65) million shares were traded. Givaudan, the fragrance and flavourings manufacturer, saw a massive recovery over the course of the day. After losses of 5 per cent at the start, its shares closed up 0.9 per cent. Initially, disappointing forecasts from competitor Symrise had weighed heavily. However, buyers immediately came in at the lower level. With an annual gain of 24 per cent, Givaudan is among the highest performers within the SMI. The leading index was led by Lonza, rising by 2.8 per cent. The shares of the chemical and pharmaceutical company are at the bottom of the index, down 26 per cent for the year. The pharmaceutical giants Novartis (-0.9 per cent) and Roche (-0.6 per cent) continued to decline. In contrast, heavyweight Nestle advanced by 0.4 per cent. Richemont (-1.9%) and Swatch (-1.1%) once again suffered from concerns regarding the weakening economy in China.

European equity markets ended mixed on Friday, although the CAC 40 index climbed to new highs, as central banks this week reinforced the prospect of a rate cut in 2024. The Stoxx Europe 600 index finished stable at 476.6 points. The CAC 40 gained 0.3% to 7,596.9 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 ended flat, while the FTSE 100 fell by 1% in London. Atos gained 20.5%. The troubled digital services group is currently in advanced discussions with Airbus to sell its big data and cybersecurity (BDS) activities, at present housed in the Eviden entity, Le Figaro reported on Friday, citing an anonymous source. Italian spirits group Campari fell by 2.9% in Milan after announcing that it had bought the Courvoisier cognac brand from the Beam Suntory group for $1.32 billion. On the Paris Bourse, Rémy Cointreau shares, which own Rémy Martin cognac, increased by 5.1%. The Swedish ready-to-wear group H&M (+0.5%) reported slightly lower-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter of its 2022-2023 financial year on Friday. Sales totalled SEK 62.63 billion (€5.56 billion) in the three months to 30 November, compared with SEK 62.43 billion a year earlier.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record for a third straight day Friday to cap a strong week for stocks. The S&P 500 advanced for a seventh consecutive week, its longest winning streak in six years. The broad-market benchmark stalled Friday, slipping 0.01%, but closed up big for the week after the Federal Reserve hinted Wednesday it could slash interest rates next year. Rate cuts would mark a major turning point in the Fed’s roughly two-year campaign to control inflation. The Dow rose 0.2% to a record 37305.16 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% higher. All were up more than 2% for the week. For the S&P 500, that marked the longest winning streak since November 2017. Costco was among the best performers Friday. The wholesaler’s shares jumped 4.4% after it reported better profits than Wall Street had expected. Meanwhile, shares of DocuSign jumped 12% after The Wall Street Journal reported the e-signature company was exploring a sale. Darden Restaurants' shares declined by 0.4 per cent following the presentation of mixed quarterly figures. The parent company of the Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse restaurant chains earned more than expected, although sales fell just short of analysts' anticipation. Lennar dropped by 3.6 per cent. Although the construction company specializing in owner-occupied homes presented surprisingly good quarterly figures at first glance, the return on sales fell short of analysts' consensus. General Motors (-1.4%) announced on Friday plans to cut 1,300 jobs at two of its Michigan plants. General Electric gained 1.5%. Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Akers initiated coverage of the stock with a "buy" recommendation and a price target of $144, believing that engine subsidiary GE Aerospace was "a leading asset" to hold in the aerospace sector.

Asian stocks were mixed. In Seoul the Kospi improved by 0.3 per cent. In Shanghai, the stock market barometer remains slightly in the red, while Hong Kong (-0.9 per cent) is the worst performer. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 lost around 0.7 per cent to 32,742 points. Traders cautiously await the Bank of Japan's final monetary policy meeting of the year later in the week, with the central bank expected to maintain its ultra-dovish stance.

Ten- and 30-year U.S. government debt yields finished Friday with their biggest weekly declines in more than a year as government debt rallied on the prospect of rate cuts in 2024 by the Federal Reserve. The 10-year Treasury note yield slipped 2 basis points to 3.913%. The 2-year Treasury note yield rose by 5 basis points to 4.445%, after losing almost 30 basis points over the past few days.

Stifel lowers Zehnder to CHF 70 (85) - Buy

Price target Logitech: UBS upgrades to CHF 53 (49) - Sell

Stifel downgrades Arbonia to CHF 8.75 (9.50) - Hold

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