The last thing Boeing needed was more trouble with its 737 MAX jet. That is exactly what it got to start the new year. The company had just started to regain its footing after years of tumult around the popular but troubled line of narrow-body jets when a MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines had a structural failure Friday night. Boeing 737 MAX 9s were grounded for inspection around the world on Sunday, leading to dozens of flight cancellations, following an incident on an Alaska Airlines plane that lost a door after takeoff. Following the example of American airlines such as United Airlines, one of the world's leading airlines, Turkish Airlines, Aeromexico and Panama's Copa Airlines grounded their aircraft for inspection, following a directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has indicated that no operators in Europe are using the 737 MAX 9 with the technical options concerned.

The Swiss stock market wrote a finish on Friday to the three-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 160 points or 1.5 percent. The SMI opened lower and continued to trend deeper into the red until midday. The market made back some of the ground it had lost but still finished modestly under water. Investors focused on U.S. non-farm payrolls data for guidance on possible interest rate cuts, while fears of an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader regional conflict also dented investor sentiment. For the day, the index sank 38.47 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 11,185.90 after trading between 11,113.75 and 11,216.35. Among the actives. Lonza Group stumbled 2.05 percent, while Swatch Group retreated 1.97 percent, ABB declined 1.34 percent, Novartis added 0.63 percent, UBS Group collected 0.51 percent, Swiss Life slid 0.27 percent, Zurich Insurance fell 0.21 percent, Nestle eased 0.14 percent and Swiss Re perked 0.08 percent.

The major European stock markets managed to claw back much of their losses after opening sharply lower on Friday but still finished modestly in the red. European stocks posted their first weekly loss in eight weeks as investors focused on euro area consumer and producer inflation reports as well as U.S. non-farm payrolls data for guidance on possible interest rate cuts. Fears of an escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader regional conflict also dented investor sentiment. Germany's DAX slipped 23.08 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 16,594.21, while London's FTSE shed 33.46 points or 0.43 percent to close at 7,689.61 and the CAC 40 in France fell 29.94 points or 0.40 percent to end at 7,420.69. In Germany, BASF tumbled 1.88 percent, while Zalando retreated 1.63 percent, Vonovia declined 1.20 percent, Siemens Energy climbed 1.10 percent, Volkswagen advanced 0.84 percent, Deutsche Borse added 0.68 percent, Infineon Technologies gained 0.63 percent, Deutsche Bank collected 0.38 percent, Fresenius lost 0.24 percent and Deutsche Telekom eased 0.13 percent. In London, RS Group plunged 3.30 percent, while Centrica rallied 2.95 percent, Prudential tanked 1.77 percent, Rightmove dropped 1.47 percent, Experian improved 1.34 percent, Scottish Mortgage and Smiths Group both slumped 1.10 percent, Shell sank 0.91 percent, SSE added 0.65 percent, Tesco slumped 0.50 percent, Rolls-Royce lost 0.40 percent and Haleon rose 0.36 percent. In France, Pernod Ricard plummeted 3,57 percent, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain stumbled 1.30 percent, Vivendi jumped 1.11 percent, Engie climbed 1.00 percent, Atos dropped 0.85 percent, Credit Agricole increased 0.84 percent, Accor sank 0.72 percent, Sanofi added 0.70 percent, Orange gained 0.49 percent, Societe Generale rose 0.43 percent and BNP Paribas perked 0.14 percent.

Major indexes eked out gains Friday, but still ended the first week of 2024 lower after a pullback by big tech stocks. The S&P 500 finished the week down 1.5%, snapping a nine-week winning streak, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 3.2%. Several of the big tech names that pulled the market higher in 2023 faltered to start the new year. Apple shares slumped 5.9% in the holiday-shortened week, stung by a downgrade from analysts at Barclays. Amazon.com shares fell 4.4% for the week, while Tesla shares also dropped 4.4% and Google parent Alphabet’s Class A shares dropped 2.8%. Some investors said it’s little surprise that the group would show weakness after its standout performance last year. The so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, which also include Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Nvidia, accounted for more than 60% of the S&P 500’s total return, including dividends, in 2023, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Stocks rose for the day, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.2% and the Dow industrials adding 0.1%, or about 26 points. The Nasdaq Composite also advanced 0.1%. Major indexes spent much of the day higher before dropping into negative territory as the afternoon wore on and then jumping higher before the close. Earlier in the day, some observers said that traders eager for interest-rate cuts might have embraced the news that recent job growth was weaker than previously reported.

A look at the stock markets in East Asia shows losses across the board in the course of trading on Monday. By far the biggest fall was in Hong Kong, where the HSI plummeted by 2.1 per cent. There are fears on the Chinese stock exchanges that the inflation and trade data to be published later this week will reflect the continuing weakness of the Chinese economy after the purchasing managers' indices for December were poor.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 4.041%, from 3.990% on Thursday.

JP Morgen lowers Ryanair target to EUR 28 (28.50) – Overweight
UBS raises BASF target to EUR 59 (55) – Buy
Bank of America raises Dürr to Buy (Neutral) – target EUR 27 (21)

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