Nvidia’s fourth-quarter results showed that massive spending to build artificial intelligence systems remains strong as the chip maker scrambles to meet demand. Chief Executive Jensen Huang described AI as hitting “the tipping point” and indicated demand for the computing power that underlies AI remained astronomical. “Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries and nations,” he said. That demand showed up in the company’s results Wednesday. Sales more than tripled in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter from a year earlier and are projected to do so again in the current period. Earnings surged more than eightfold. The results exceeded analyst expectations. Nvidia’s results act as a bellwether for the strength of the AI boom, as big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Apple place large bets on the technology and need Nvidia’s hardware to drive them. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said the results show that “the AI revolution is just starting and not peaked.” In addition to ChatGPT, a number of other popular AI products have started to hit the market in recent months, including digital assistants for coding and business from Microsoft.

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The Switzerland market ended modestly lower on Wednesday after staying weak right through the day's session amid a lack of positive triggers. Investors, looking ahead to the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting, refrained from making significant moves. The benchmark SMI ended down 28.22 points or 0.25% at 11,428.74, after moving between 11,407.67 and 11,454.22. Richemont ended down 1.29%. Swiss Re, Novartis, Logitech International, Swisscom and Roche Holding lost 0.6 to 0.8%. Nestle, Swiss Life Holding, Givaudan and Partners Group ended modestly lower. Holcim, Kuehne & Nagel and Sika gained 1.1 to 1.4%. Zurich Insurance Group, Geberit, UBS Group, Sonova and Alcon posted modest gains. In the Mid Price Index, Straumann Holding, Temenos Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Ems Chemie Holding and Meyer Burger Tech lost 1 to 1.44%. Baloise Holding and BKW both ended nearly 1% down. SIG Combibloc, Galenica Sante, Georg Fischer and PSP Swiss Property also ended weak. Avolta climbed about 1.75%. Flughafen Zurich, Schindler Holding, Barry Callebaut and VAT Group gained 0.6 to 0.8%.

European stocks ended on a mixed note on Wednesday with investors reacting to some disappointing quarterly earnings updates, and looking ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting for clues about the outlook for interest rates. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.73%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed o.29% and 0.22%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended down 0.25%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal and Spain closed higher. Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Sweden settled flat. In the UK market, HSBC Holdings tumbled more than 8% after the lender reported a plunge in fourth-quarter profit after a charge on Chinese bank stake. Entain ended down 3.2%. Centrica, Ocado Group and Flutter Entertainment lost 2 to 2.5%. Croda International, Vodafone, BAE Systems, RightMove, WPP, Rio Tinto, Ds Smith, DCC, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Fresnillo lost 1 to 1.6%. Intercontinental Hotels climbed more than 2%. BT, Beazley, B&M European Value Retail, St. James's Place, Frasers Group, Convatec Group, Halma and Prudential gained 1 to 1.6%. In the German market, Siemens Energy surged 3.2%. BMW gained nearly 2.5%. Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Daimler Truck Holding, Infineon and Volkswagen ended higher by 1.3 to 2.1%. Fresenius Medical Care ended more than 5.5% down, after the health care company posted a net loss of 614 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared with a net profit of 255 million euros in the year-ago quarter.

Stocks spent most of Wednesday's session in the red but staged a notable recovery attempt going into the close of trading. The Dow and the S&P 500 bounced well off their worst levels and into positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq still closed lower for the third straight session. While the Nasdaq fell 49.91 points or 0.3 percent to 15,580.90, the Dow inched up 48.44 points or 0.1 percent to 38,612.24 and the S&P 500 crept up 6.29 points or 0.1 percent to 4,981.80. Concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of the session, with the major averages falling to their worst levels after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates 'too quickly.' The minutes of the late-January meeting said participants acknowledged risks to achieving the Fed's employment and inflation goals were moving into better balance, but they remained highly attentive to inflation risks. Despite the late-day recovery by the broader markets, networking stocks continued to see substantial weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca Networking Index down by 3.0 percent to its lowest closing level in over two months.

Positive signs dominated the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Thursday. The markets in the region were led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange. There, the Nikkei 225 index rose above the 39,000 point mark for the first time in its history. The previous record high was set in December 1989. The Nikkei is currently 1.9 per cent higher at 38,990 points. Semiconductor stocks Renesas and Advantest gained 5.1 and 6.5 per cent respectively. Fpr The Taipei stock exchange also reached a new high during the course of the day, fuelled by index heavyweight TSMC. The semiconductor manufacturer's share price rose by a good 2 per cent at times and is currently trading 1 per cent higher.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries came under pressure after showing a lack of direction earlier in the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.0 basis points to 4.325 percent.

Deutsche Bank lowers Temenos target to CHF 68 (80) – Hold
Bank of America raises Iveco to Buy (Neutral) – Target EUR 20 (8.60)
UBS raises Mediobanca to Buy (Neutral) – Target EUR 14.10 (13.10)

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