Apple won a temporary reprieve for its $18 billion smartwatch business after a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday paused a federal agency’s import ban on most of its watch models. The ruling will allow sales to resume in the coming weeks while the court weighs Apple’s request to pause the ban pending its appeal of an October decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The commission banned the import into the U.S. of some versions of the Apple Watch over violations of patents of Masimo, an Irvine, Calif.-based medical technology company. Separately, Apple has sought approval from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on redesigned versions of the two watch models subject to the ban. The customs office is responsible for enforcing import bans and is scheduled to decide on Jan. 12 whether Apple’s redesign complies with the trade agency’s finding. The Biden administration declined to overturn the ruling by a Dec. 25 deadline. The technical fix could also allow the watches to be sold in the U.S. again. Apple halted some watch sales Dec. 21 online and in stores after Dec. 24. The ban included the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models, which make up most of the company’s watch models.

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The Swiss market stayed in negative territory on Wednesday as investors remained reluctant to make significant moves, choosing to wait for directional cues. The benchmark SMI ended down 39.11 points or 0.35% at 11,113.98, nearly 20 points off the day's low of 11,093.43. Kuehne & Nagel ended down 2.19%. Partners Group and Sonova both ended lower by 1.26%, and Alcon eased nearly 1%. Novartis, Lonza Group, Swiss Re, Swisscom, Zurich Insurance Group, Givaudan and Geberit lost 0.4 to 0.8%. Swiss Life Holding and Richemont ended up 0.62% and 0.6%, respectively. Sika gained 0.37%. In the Mid Price Index, Sandoz ended 2.57% down. Ems Chemie Holdings drifted down 0.8%, while ams OSRAM AG, Galenica Sante, BKW and Flughafen Zurich ended down 0.3 to 0.5%. Meyer Burger Tech gained about 1.65%, recovering a bit from recent sharp losses. Adecco, Avolta, Swatch Group and Julius Baer gained 1 to 1.5%. In economic news, a report from UBS & CFA Society said the Swiss investors' sentiment index rose by 5.9 points from the previous month to -23.7 in December. The reading points to the lowest amount of pessimism fro Swiss investors in ten months.

European markets, back to business after a long weekend, closed mostly higher on Wednesday, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will likely cut interest rates in March 2024. Several other central banks are also widely expected to ease their policy tightening to spur growth. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.21% up. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.36%, Germany's DAX gained 0.21% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.04%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.35% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden ended higher. Denmark, Portugal, Russia and Spain closed marginally up, while Turkiye ended weak. In the UK market, Anglo American Plc, Rentokil Initial, Hargreaves Lansdown, Phoenix Holdings, Entain and Segro gained 2 to 3%. Fresnillo, Ashtead Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Intertek, JD Sports Fashion, Natwest Group, Prudential and DCC advanced 1.2 to 1.8%. Carnival ended nearly 6% down. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Vodafone Group, Imperial Brands, Smurfit Kappa Group and BT lost 1 to 1.2%. In the German market, Bayer climbed about 2.3% after the company said it had won a trial linked to a lawsuit filed by a Californian who alleged cancer development due to exposure to Bayer's Roundup weedkiller. Siemens Energy rallied nearly 5.5%, while SAP, Vonovia and Puma gained 1 to 1.2%. E.ON, Fresenius, Zalando, Munich RE and Deutsche Telekom ended down 0.7 to 1.2%. In Paris, WorldLine surged nearly 3%. Alstom, Societe Generale, Capgemini and Kering gained 1 to 1.5%. Veolia, Orange, Hermes International, Renault and LVMH closed weak.

The S&P 500 closed just shy of an all-time high Wednesday, a sign of the optimism that has sent stocks rallying this year after a punishing 2022. The benchmark index crept up 0.1% Wednesday, leaving it 0.3% shy of its January 2022 record close. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, or about 111 points, its sixth record high this month. It has taken the S&P 500 almost two years to come back to its previous highs and notch a new record. Sticky inflation, aggressive interest-rate increases and Russia’s war in Ukraine robbed stocks of upward momentum last year. Investors entered 2023 worried that a recession loomed. Stocks are also on track for a so-called Santa Claus rally—the bump stocks often get in the period spanning the last five trading days of the year and first two of the next. The talk of lower interest rates has fueled other parts of the economy—especially housing, which slowed down considerably after the Fed started raising rates. Rocket Cos., UWM Holdings and loanDepot, three of the largest mortgage companies, are up more than 100% in 2023, putting them at their highest levels in roughly two years. New York Times shares added 2.8% after the news publisher sued Microsoft and OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement.

Stock markets in Asia mostly continued their winning streak on Thursday. Speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates and that the U.S. economy will have a "soft landing" are encouraging investors to buy shares, according to market participants. The Composite Index in Shanghai advances by 1.2 percent, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gains 2.0 percent. Alongside automotive stocks, real estate stocks are in demand. They benefited from the fact that the cities of Beijing and Shanghai recently made it easier to buy private real estate.

In U.S. bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury ticked down to 3.788% from 3.885% Tuesday. The two-year yield ticked lower to 4.242% from 4.339% Tuesday.

Baader downgrades Partners Group to Reduce (Buy) – Target CHF 1,200 (1,075)

Citi lowers Standard Chartered to 675 (750) GBp – Neutral

Citi lowers HSBC to 880 (940) GBp – Buy

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