LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault holds a small stake in the Richemont group, controlled by South African businessman Johann Rupert. In an interview with CNBC, Bernard Arnault confirmed that he had personally acquired a small stake in the Swiss luxury group. “It's a very minor stake,” he told CNBC. The billionaire added that he would take no hostile action towards Johann Rupert. “He wants to remain independent, and I totally agree with that,” said Bernard Arnault. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Bernard Arnault was a shareholder in Richemont and that he might consider acquiring this group or other luxury players if they were up for sale.

The Switzerland market started off on a weak note Friday morning, but recovered swiftly and then kept moving higher and higher as the day progressed to eventually close on a strong note. Rising hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September, and some fairly encouraging earnings updates aided sentiment. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 135.95 points or 1.12% at 12,241.49, slightly off the session's high of 12,250.56. Lonza Group climbed 3.79%. Roche GS, Richemont, Sandos Group, Roche Holding and ABB gained 2 to 3.1%. Schindler Ps, Logitech International, UBS Group, Sika, Alcon, Sonova, Geberit, VAT Group and SIG Group ended higher by 1 to 1.6%. Swiss Re advanced nearly 1%. Zurich Insurance, Swiss Life Holding, Swatch Group, SGS, Novartis and Julius Baer also ended on firm note. Nestle ended down 1%. Kuehne + Nagel and Straumann Holding ended marginally down.

European stocks closed on a firm note on Friday, with many of the markets recovering after having dropped to multi-month lows in recent sessions. Fairly encouraging economic data from the U.S., and some good earnings updates from European companies helped underpin sentiment in the markets. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.83%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended up 1.21%, Germany's DAX gained 0.65% and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.22%, while Switzerland's SMI closed stronger by 1.12%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended weak, while Austria edged up marginally. In the UK market, Natwest Group surged more than 7%. Anglo American Plc gained a little over 5%. Intertek Group and Burberry Group gained about 4.3% and 4.2%, respectively. JD Sports Fashion, Diploma, IMI, Vistry Group, Experian, Airtel Africa, Ashtead Group, Rolls-Royce Holding, Beazley, Reckitt Benckiser, ICG, Compass Group, Unite Group and B&M European Value Retail gained 2 to 3.3%. Segro, RightMove, Pershing Square Holdings, Hargreaves Lansdown and Fresnillo ended weak. In the German market, Sartorius climbed about 7%. Rheinmetall, Puma, Merck, Qiagen, Siemens Energy and HeidelbergCement gained 2 to 4%. MTU Aero Engines, Adidas, Zalando, Munich RE, Porsche and Brenntag ended higher by 1 to 1.8%. BASF ended down 2.3%. In the French market, Essilor rallied more than 7% after reporting strong financial performance for the first half of 2024. Saint Gobain, Dassault Systemes, Vinci and Eurofins Scientific gained 3 to 4.3%. Hermes International gained about 4%. The Birkin-bag maker reported a 13% rise in second-quarter sales, defying the luxury downturn. Teleperformance, Kering, L'Oreal, LVMH, Schneider Electric, Safran, Legrand, Air Liquide, Airbus, Engie, Pernod Ricard and Danone advanced 1 to 2.3%.

Shares of manufacturer 3M had their best day on record Friday, leading the Dow to a 654-point gain as investors continued to spread their bets beyond the big tech firms that powered stock indexes to new heights this summer. Every industry sector in the S&P 500 ended Friday higher in a broad rebound from what had been a rocky week on Wall Street, including a midweek tech selloff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6% to end the week up 0.7%. The S&P 500 increased 1.1% but finished the week 0.8% lower. The Nasdaq Composite also gained but logged a weekly decline of 2.1% after suffering its biggest daily drop since 2022 on Wednesday. The Russell 2000 continued its resurgence, adding 1.7% Friday. The index of smaller companies has risen for three straight weeks. Though shares of the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks have declined lately - Friday’s gains notwithstanding - Vince Lorusso, chief executive of fund manager Clough Capital Partners, said that it is too early to throw in the towel on the big tech stocks. Though Friday’s rally was broad, trading was dominated by sharp moves related to corporate earnings reports and updated sales outlooks. Shares of 3M surged 23% after the materials giant beat analysts’ expectations for second-quarter sales and earnings and the company lifted the floor for its full-year outlook. Flooring maker Mohawk Industries jumped 19% after it lifted its profit outlook. Cable television operator Charter Communications, pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb and freight railroad Norfolk Southern each gained more than 10% in response to their own quarterly results. DexCom was a big drag on the S&P 500, plunging 41% after the maker of monitoring-devices for diabetes patients cut its 2024 sales outlook. DexCom’s CEO told investors that there have been a lot fewer new diabetes patients than the company expected. Investors have been on edge over the impact of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1s, including Ozempic, on stocks ranging from fast-food restaurants to medical-device makers.

Most Asian stock exchanges recorded significant gains at the start of the new trading week. The Shanghai stock exchange, on the other hand, is lagging somewhat behind and is merely unchanged. Here, investors are waiting for the publication of important economic data over the course of the week, such as the purchasing managers' indices for the service sector and the manufacturing industry, both for July.

U.S. treasury yields declined. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes ended Friday at 4.199%, down from 4.255% Thursday. Yields fall as prices rise.

Bank of America lowers Hermes target to EUR 2,800 (3,000) – Buy
Bank of America raises Dassault Systemes to Buy (Neutral) – Target EUR 43 (40)
UBS raises Santander target to EUR 6.20 (6) – Buy

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