Cisco Systems shares fell in late trading after the company lowered its full-year outlook for the second consecutive quarter. The stock was down about 4.7% to $47.90. The networking-equipment company's guidance came after revenue in its second quarter slowed down, caused in part by flat software revenue. Still, the latest quarter's results topped Wall Street expectations. Revenue fell 6% to $12.8 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $12.71 billion. Earnings declined to $2.63 billion, or 65 cents a share. Analysts expected 65 cents a share. The network specialist also announced that it would reduce its workforce by around 5 per cent as part of a restructuring plan. The staff reduction will lead to costs of around $800 million.

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The Swiss stock market started off on a flat note on Wednesday but gained in strength as the day progressed and finally closed moderately higher. Positive global cues and a slew of strong earnings updates helped underpin sentiment. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 70.85 points or 0.64% at 11,213.64, slightly off the day's high of 11,217.77. Lonza Group, up 4.66%, was the top gainer in the SMI index. ABB climbed 2.05%, while Holcim, Givaudan, Logitech International, Sika, Alcon, Kuehne & Nagel and Sonova gained 1.3 to 1.7%. Richemont, Geberit and Partners Group advanced 1 to 1.2%, while Roche Holding and Novartis ended down 0.57% and 0.25%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, Schindler Ps, Meyer Burger Tech and Schindler Holding gained 4.1 to 4.4%. Julius Baer and Tecan Group both gained nearly 2.5%. VAT Group, Galenica Sante, Straumann Holding, Temenos Group, Belimo Holding and SIG Combibloc also posted strong gains. ams OSRAM AG ended nearly 3% down.

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, due largely to bargain hunting at scores of counters after the setback in the previous session due to hotter-than-expected U.S. consumer price inflation data. A somewhat tame UK inflation data, and some encouraging corporate earnings updates helped as well in prompting investors to pick up stocks. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.5%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.75%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.38% and 0.68%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled higher by 0.64%. Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Iceland and Portugal ended weak, while Austria, Belgium, Finland, Russia and Spain settled flat. In the UK market, Coca-Cola HBC shares surged 8% after the company reported a 17% jump in comparable operating profit for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $1.16 billion. JD Sports Fashion, Frasers Group, BT, Natwest Group, Melrose Industries, Rentokil Initial, Tayloer Wimpey, Ocado Group, Vodafone, Convatec Group, Legal & General and Barratt Developments gained 2 to 3.1%. Airtel Africa, Relx, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Experian, NEXT, B&M European Value Retail, HSBC Holdings, Aviva, Howden Joinery, RS Group and Flutter Entertainment also posted sharp gains. Entain drifted down 3.4%. Endeavour Mining ended 2.1% down, while Anglo American, United Utilities, BP and Fresnillo lost 1 to 1.25%. In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care, Puma, Adidas and Fresenius gained 2.5 to 4.3%. MTU Aero Engines, Merck, Zalando, SAP, BASF, Infineon and Brenntag ended higher by 1 to 1.6%. Delivery Hero soared 20%. The online food company said it expects its organic cash flow generation to be more than sufficient to settle bond and debt maturities. Shares of industrial services provider Bilfinger rallied 10% after bagging a large-scale maintenance contract from INEOS for the Forties Pipeline System.

Stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday, partly offsetting the sell-off seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved higher on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the rebound. After plunging by 1.8 percent Tuesday's trading, the Nasdaq surged 203.55 points or 1.3 percent to 15,859.15. The S&P 500 also jumped 47.45 points or 1.0 percent to 5,000.62, while the Dow climbed 151.52 points or 0.4 percent at 38,424.27. The rebound on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, with some traders seeing the sharp pullback on Tuesday as a buying opportunity amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for the markets. Among individual stocks, shares of Lyft (LYFT) skyrocketed by 35.1 after the ride-hailing company reported better than expected fourth quarter results and provided upbeat guidance. Investing platform Robinhood (HOOD) also spiked by 13.0 percent after reporting fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. On the other hand, shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) plunged by 8.2 percent after the server network provider reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings but weaker than expected revenues. Computer hardware stocks showed a strong move back to the upside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index soaring by 3.4 percent to a record closing high.

The majority of stock exchanges in East Asia followed Wall Street's favourable lead on Thursday. The Nikkei-225 in Tokyo rose by 1.1 per cent to 38,105 points. The fact that Japan's GDP shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter, contrary to expectations, hardly slowed things down, nor did the firmer yen.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries regained ground following the sell-off seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.9 basis points to 4.267 percent.

UBS lowers Arbonia to CHF 11 (13) – Neutral

HSBC raises Kering to EUR 440 (420) – Hold

Citi lowers Prosieben to EUR 12.50 (15) – Buy

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