A federal judge ruled that Google engaged in illegal practices to preserve its search engine monopoly, delivering a major antitrust victory to the Justice Department in its effort to rein in Silicon Valley technology giants. Google, which performs about 90% of the world’s internet searches, exploited its market dominance to stomp out competitors, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta in Washington, D.C. said in the long-awaited ruling. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in his 276-page decision released Monday, in which he also faulted the company for destroying internal messages that could have been useful in the case. Mehta agreed with the central argument made by the Justice Department and 38 states and territories that Google suppressed competition by paying billions of dollars to operators of web browsers and phone manufacturers to be their default search engine.

The Switzerland market ended sharply lower on Monday as stocks across the board reeled under sustained selling pressure due to a sell-off in global markets amid concerns about a possible recession in the U.S., and on escalating conflict in the Middle East. The benchmark SMI ended down 332.27 points or 2.8% at 11,543.25. The index dropped to a low of 11,419.90 around mid afternoon, before recovering some lost ground. The SMI had shed 3.59% on Friday. Sandoz Group tumbled 5.41%. Roche Holding ended nearly 5% down. Lindt & Spruengli, Swiss Re, Roche GS, Swiss Life Holding, Novartis, Holcim and Straumann Holding ended lower by 3 to 4.2%. Alcon, Richemont, SGS, Givaudan, Zurich Insurance Group, Nestle, Partners Group, ABB, Sika, Lonza Group, Swisscom, Schindler Ps and Sonova lost 2 to 2.9%. SIG Group and Geberit ended nearly 2% down.

European stocks tumbled on Monday, and several major markets recorded their largest single-session drop, as investors went on a selling spree amid rising fears the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession. Some weak eurozone economic data hurt as well. Concerns over an escalating Middle East conflict also weighed on markets, with reports suggesting the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government could sanction a pre-emptive strike on Iran to prevent an attack on Israeli soil. A sell-off on Wall Street that has resulted in sharp erosion in values of the major averages Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 added to the woes. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 2.17%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 2.04%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended dwon 1.82% and 1.42%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI settled 2.8% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden lost 2 to 4%. Portugal ended nearly 2% down. Turkiye closed lower by about 5.5%, while Greece plunged more than 6%. In the UK market, Melrose Industries dropped about 6.3%. Severn Trent, Scottish Mortgage, United Utilities, Coca-Cola, Centrica, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Fresnillo lost 4 to 6%. Vodafone Group, British Amrican Tobacc, M&G, BT Group, National Grid, Persimmon, BP, Segro, Shell, Endeavor Mining, Relx, Schrodders, Anglo American Plc, Informa, Frasers Group and Marks & Spencer lost 2 to 4%. Unilever, Tesco, Associated British Foods, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, AstraZeneca and Next also declined sharply.

Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Monday, extending the sell-off seen to close out the previous week. The major averages all showed significant declines, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hitting three-month lows. The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 576.08 points or 3.4 percent to 16,200.08, the S&P 500 dove 160.23 points or 3.0 percent to 5,186.33 and the Dow tumbled 1,033.99 or 2.6 percent to 38,703.27. The continued weakness on Wall Street came on the heels of an overseas sell-off, which saw Japan's Nikkei 225 Index record its biggest slump since 'Black Monday' in October 1987. Concerns about the U.S. economy slipping into recession following last Friday's disappointing jobs report triggered the significant weakness in the overseas markets. Shares of AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) plunged by 6.4 amid an unwinding of the artificial intelligence trade that recently helped the markets to record highs. Tech giant Apple (AAPL) also tumbled by 4.8 percent after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed it sold nearly half its stake in the iPhone maker. Stocks regained some ground following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing service sector activity in the U.S. turned positive in the month of July. Telecom stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 4.2 percent.

After the massive sell-off the day before, the stock markets in East Asia and Australia recovered somewhat on Tuesday. This is most evident in Japan, where the Nikkei index rose 10 percent to 34,611 points after plunging around 12 percent on Monday. Market participants also point to bargain purchases after the broad price slide. Economic data, however, shows light and shadow. While wages rose in Japan, household spending fell more than expected year-on-year.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries surged early in the session but gave background to end the day roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 3.785 percent after hitting a low of 3.669 percent.

Citi lowers Lloyds to Neutral (Buy) – Target 60 (68) p
UBS lowers Siemens Healthineers target to EUR 56 (60) – Buy
Deutsche Bank lowers Prudential to Hold (Buy) – Target GBP 8.65 (13.50)

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