Spirit Airlines reached an agreement with Airbus to defer all aircraft on order that are scheduled to be delivered in 2025 to 2030. The airline specified the agreement will defer the order scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2025 through the end of 2026 to between 2030 and 2031. It said the agreement will improve its liquidity by about $340 million over the next two years. Spirit noted the deferrals don’t include the direct-lease aircraft scheduled for delivery in that period, one each in the second and third quarter of 2025. It also said there are no changes to the aircraft on order with Airbus scheduled to be delivered in 2027 through 2029. Spirit disclosed it intends to furlough about 260 pilots effective Sept. 1 as a result of grounded aircraft due to Pratt & GTF engine availability issues along with the 2025 and 2026 aircraft deferrals. As a result, it entered into a compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney regarding the engines, which it estimates to improve its liquidity between $150 million and $200 million over the term of that agreement.

The Swiss market briefly slipped into negative territory in early trades on Monday, but held firm after a swift recovery to eventually end the day's session on a positive note. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 51.35 points or 0.45% at 11,547.14. The index touched a low of 11,487.41 and a high of 11,5461.38 in the session. Lonza Group and Sonova gained 2.05% and 1.94%, respectively. Swiss Life Holding climbed 1.42%. Richemont, Logitech International, ABB, Partners Group, Givaudan, Geberit, Sika and Holcim ended higher by 0.5 to 1%. Swisscom, the only SMI component to settle lower, ended 0.86% down. In the Mid Price Index, ams OSRAM AG and Clariant gained 2.88% and 2.85%, respectively. Adecco and Baloise Holding both ended higher by 2%. Julius Baer, Avolta, BKW, Straumann Holding, Temenos Group and VAT Group advanced 1 to 4.5%. Meyer Burger Tech ended 10.7% down. PSP Swiss Property drifted down by about 3%, while SGS and SIG Group both shed about 1%. In economic news, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) showed Switzerland's unemployment rate held steady in March, with the unadjusted unemployment rate coming in at 2.4%, the same as in February.

European stocks closed higher on Monday with investors cheering some encouraging economic data from the region, and continuing to react positively to last week's jobs data from the U.S. Data showing an improvement in euro area investor confidence, and a jump in German industrial production aided sentiment. Markets are looking ahead to some crucial economic events this week, such as the release of Fed minutes, U.S. inflation data, and the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.47%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.41% up. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.79% and 0.72%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI finished with a gain of 0.45%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Iceland, Norway and Spain edged down marginally. In the UK market, Entain rallied more than 5%, buoyed by reports that private equity outfit Apollo was mulling a break-up bid for the troubled sports betting and gaming group. Rio Tinto, EasyJet, Anglo American Plc, Scottish Mortgage, Airtel Africa, Beazley, Fresenillo, Burberry Group, Schrodders and Centrica gained 2 to 4.5%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Glencore, WPP, Land Securities, Phoenix Holdings, Barclays Group, ICP and Frasers Group also ended sharply higher. The Sage Group, Flutter Entertainment, Severn Trent, Marks & Spencer, RightMove, United Utilities and Haleon lost 1 to 3%. In the German market, Zalando surged more than 7% follwing a rating upgrade by Citigroup. Energy, Infineon, Mercedes-Benz, Fresenius, Covestro, Sartorius, BMW, Continental, Vonovia, Adidas and Daimler Truck Holding gained 1 to 3%.

Following the substantial volatility seen over the final two sessions of the previous week, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq crept up 5.44 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 16,253.96, the Dow edged down 11.24 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 38,892.80 and the S&P 500 slipped 1.95 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,202.39. The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched inflation data later in the week. Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets. Airline stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index jumping by 1.8 percent. Significant strength was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted y the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Banking stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, while gold stocks gave back ground following recent strength.

The stock markets in East Asia and Australia are still showing no clear direction on Tuesday. The Nikkei-225 in Tokyo continued its recovery after the heavy losses on Friday and improved by a further 0.7 per cent. At the end of the week, the index had lost 2 per cent due to increased profit-taking following the recent strong performance. Once again, technology and automotive stocks were particularly sought after.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended the notable downward move seen last Friday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 4.6 basis points to 4.424 percent.

JPM raises the Volvo target to SEK 290 (250) – Neutral
UBS raises the Easyjet target to 850 (20) p – Buy
JPM lowers the Hellofresh target to 7.40 (9) EUR/Overweight – Trader

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.