Siemens posted higher third-quarter net profit and revenue and said the artificial-intelligence boom and the energy transition are powering demand. The German industrial giant said the economic situation in China and Europe remained difficult, but the company kept delivering orders it had on its backlog and expanded profitability. Siemens said the performance of its smart infrastructure segment stood out, continuing to benefit from an AI-driven data-center buildout and demand from energy customers. Industrial companies that have reported so far this earnings season said they experienced strong demand from data centers amid a surge in construction activity. European peers ABB and Schneider Electric said results benefited from that trend. In the U.S., Eaton executives said stronger-than-expected growth in data centers was a key reason behind an increase in the company’s sales growth guidance for the year.

The Swiss market languished in negative territory right through the day's session on Thursday as investors chose to take some profits at several counters but recovered most of the lost ground as a few frontline stocks found some support in late afternoon trades. The benchmark SMI, which tumbled to 11,642.77 around mid morning, ended down 15.75 points or 0.13% at 11,827.43. Sandoz Group shares ended down 2.2% after reporting a 36% fall in first-half net income. The company reported a net income of $484 million for the first half, missing analysts' estimates by 5%. Zurich Insurance Group, Kuehne + Nagel, Lindt & Spruengli, SIG Group, Novartis, Lonza Group, Logitech International and Sika ended down 0.5 to 1.25%. Strauamann Holding gained nearly 1%. Swiss Re, ABB, Roche GS, Richemont and Sonova ended higher by 0.4 to 0.6%.

European stocks wiped off early losses and ended on a mixed note on Thursday after data from U.S. Labor Department showing a bigger than expected drop in jobless claims helped ease concerns about growth in the world's largest economy. Investors also digested corporate earnings updates. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.27% and France's CAC 40 closed 0.26% down, while Germany's DAX gained 0.37% and Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.13%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended weak. Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. In the UK market, Beazley soared more than 10%. The insurer reported better-than-expected first-half results and upgraded its combined ratio forecast for 2024. Hikma Pharmaceuticals zoomed about 8.25% after the company raised its full-year guidance, buoyed by robust performance in its Branded and Generics divisions. Entain gained 5.1% after raising its full-year earnings forecast. Persimmon climbed 2.8% after the company said it expects to build at the top end of its previous housebuilding target range in 2024. RightMove gained 2.7%. Hargreaves Lansdown, GSK, Burberry Group, EasyJet and Anglo American Plc ended higher by 0.9 to 1.8%. Spirax Group ended down 7.4%. United Utilities and BT Group lost 4.4% and 4%, respectively. JD Sports Fashion, WPP, Segro, Fresnillo, Natwest Group, Frasers Group, Ashtead Group, Prudential, B&M European Value Retail, Rentokil Initial and Croda International ended lower by 1.4 to 2.7%. In the German market, Allianz gained more than 2% after posting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and affirming full-year targets.

Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday, with the major averages more than offsetting the downturn seen over the course of the previous session. The major averages surged early in the session and saw further upside as the day progressed. The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, hovering near their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq soared 464.22 points or 2.9 percent to 16,660.02, the Nasdaq spiked 119.81 points or 2.3 percent to 5,319.31 and the Dow jumped 683.04 points or 1.8 percent to 39,446.49. The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended August 3rd. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 233,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of to 250,000. Among individual stocks, athletic apparel company Under Armour (UAA) skyrocketed by 19.2 percent after reporting an unexpected fiscal third quarter profit. Eli Lilly (LLY) also moved sharply higher after the drug maker reported better than expected second quarter results and raised its full-year revenue guidance. On the other hand, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) slumped after the company reported disappointing second quarter results and announced a $9.1 billion write down tied to its TV networks. Networking stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, resulting in an 8.4 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. Airline, computer hardware and biotechnology stocks also moved notably higher, while telecom stocks were among the few groups that bucked the upward trend.

Stock markets in Asia are following the significant recovery on Wall Street. On the Tokyo stock exchange, the stock market recovered significantly from its sharp fall at the start of the week before the long weekend, albeit not completely. There will be no trading on Monday due to a public holiday. On the Chinese stock markets, the Hang Seng Index is also rising, supported by the US stock markets. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite is up only slightly.

In U.S. bond market, treasuries extended their recent pullback in reaction to the initial jobless claims data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.9 basis points to 3.997 percent.

Citi increases Erste Bank target to EUR 52.50 (49.50) – Buy
JP Morgan increases KWS Saat to 80 (77) EUR – Buy
Morgan Stanley lowers Fraport to 57 (71) EUR – Overweight

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