Europes IPO market received a much-needed boost, after shares of Swiss skincare company Galderma jumped on their trading debut. The gain is good news for the region's new-issue marketespecially after the weak trading debut of Douglas, a German answer to Ulta Beauty, a day earlier. Galderma is backed by European buyout firm EQT and other investors. The initial price of 61.00 Swiss francs was already well above the issue price of 53.00 Swiss francs, which in turn was at the upper end of the offer range of 49.00 to 53.00 Swiss francs. At the end of the first day of trading, the shares were quoted at 64.00 francs, an increase of over 20 per cent for initial subscribers. This implies a market capitalisation of a good 14 billion francs. The former Nestlé division Galderma announced its IPO on the SIX just over three weeks ago. On Friday, the Swiss stock exchange celebrated the largest IPO since 2017 with Galderma. This gives hope for a good year for further new additions. Galderma intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the newly issued registered shares primarily to strengthen its balance sheet by repaying and refinancing debt. Galderma will be included in the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) and its sub-indices on the second trading day, i.e. next Monday. In addition to sun creams such as "Daylong", the Group also sells medicines for skin diseases such as acne, psoriasis and rosacea. The company's portfolio includes products against skin cancer as well as injectable aesthetic treatments, such as the wrinkle treatment Dysport, and skin cleansers under brands such as Cetaphil.

Following Thursday's gains in reaction to the unexpected interest rate cut by the Swiss National Bank, most share prices in Zurich declined slightly on Friday. The Swiss franc remained at the significantly reduced level of the previous day and provided no impetus. The SMI lost 0.4 per cent to 11,652 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 losers and 7 gainers. A total of 18.52 million shares were traded (Thursday: 24.65 million). For the third day in a row, Lonza was among the top SMI stocks, this time rising by 1.3 per cent. The recent increase in the sales forecast continued to have a positive impact here. In addition, Logitech also rose again, by 1.5 per cent. Richemont was once more among the major underperformers (-2.6 per cent). Since last Friday, the share price has lost over 8 per cent, triggered primarily by a profit warning from competitor Kering, whose most important brand Gucci is weakening, particularly in China. Sonova was ranked last in the SMI, losing 4.6 per cent without any news. ABB's launch of a new share buyback programme of up to USD 1 billion did not prompt any investors to buy. The share price fell by 0.1 per cent. Novartis (-0.2 per cent) was unmoved by the positive news that the pharmaceutical giant received antitrust approval in the USA for its planned takeover of Morphosys.

Stocks in Europe were mixed on Friday as the recent upbeat sentiment continued, on the growing conviction among investors that the post-Covid surge in borrowing costs will soon end. The Stoxx Europe 600 index finished close to balance at 509.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were down by 0.3% each, weighed down by the luxury goods heavyweights. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 gained 0.2%, setting a new closing record at 18,205.94 points. The FTSE 100 climbed 0.6% in London. Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 posted a gain of 1%. Kering fell by 3.6%, continuing its decline for the third session in a row following its first-quarter sales warning. LVMH and Hermès lost 2.3% and 1% respectively. LVMH has also announced that Toni Belloni will step down as Deputy CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the luxury group following the Annual General Meeting to be held on 18 April. He will be replaced by Stéphane Bianchi, head of LVMH's watches and jewellery division since 2020. Automobile manufacturers Renault (+0.7%) and Volvo (+1% in Stockholm) have obtained the necessary regulatory approvals to create their Flexis joint venture, dedicated to the production of electric light commercial vehicles, in which shipowner CMA CGM will also invest.

A drop in shares of retailers pushed stocks lower to end the week, putting a pause on a breathtaking rally that has driven stocks to records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8%, or 305 points. The S&P 500 shed 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, edged 0.2% higher to a new record. Nike shares dropped 6.9% after the sneaker giant reported flat quarterly sales and cut its revenue outlook for the year. Lululemon’s shares plunged more than 15% after the company’s chief executive expressed caution about consumer demand and said the company has been navigating a slower start to the year. Other retailers such as Bath & Body Works and Estée Lauder fell around 3.1% and 2.1%, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 rose 2% and 2.3%, respectively, for the week despite Friday’s declines. The Nasdaq gained about 2.9%. Excitement for stock-market debuts bounced back, at least temporarily, after a long lackluster period for initial public offerings. Shares of Reddit and Astera Labs, two companies that started trading this week, jumped after their listings, though Reddit fell on Friday. Many individuals have also piled into shares of the shell company set to take Donald Trump’s Truth Social public. On Friday, the shell company’s shares dropped after shareholders approved a merger of the two companies. Digital World Acquisition Corp. shares were down more than 13%. Approval of the deal puts Trump a step closer to a roughly $3 billion windfall. Truth Social is expected to start trading on the stock market next week. The stock’s ticker would shift to DJT, Trump’s initials.

Asian stocks were mixed on Monday. Tokyo is down 0.6% to 40,638 points, with Seoul (-0.5%) also in the red, while the Chinese stock exchanges climb by up to 0.5%. Among individual stocks, Meituan climbed 8.7 percent in Hong Kong after the online retail service provider reported robust fourth-quarter figures. Wuxi Apptec and Wuxi Biologics each rose by around 8 percent. In Seoul, Hyundai and Kia fell by just under 1 percent each after the two companies recalled electric vehicles in the USA due to possible technical problems.

Yields on U.S. government debt finished at their lowest levels in more than a week on Friday as analysts poured over a week of central-bank decisions. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell by 7 basis points to 4.206%. The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield shed 4 basis points to 4.596%.

Warburg raises Docmorris target to CHF 100 (95) - Buy
Stifel upgrades target Georg Fischer to CHF 78 (74) - Buy
Target price Lonza: JP Morgan lifts target to CHF 600 (500) - Overweight
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