Nestle said Chief Executive Mark Schneider is leaving the company and appointed Laurent Freixe, its Latin America head, as his successor. Freixe’s appointment will be effective from Sept. 1. The Swiss multinational food and drink conglomerate said Thursday that it also nominated Freixe as a candidate for its Board of Directors. The move comes after Mark Schneider, Chief Executive Officer for the last eight years, decided to step down from his roles as CEO and member of the Board of Directors and leave the company.

The Swiss stock market closed solidly in the green on Thursday. Investors remained confident ahead of the major central bankers' meeting in Jackson Hole, where US Federal Reserve (Fed) chief Jerome Powell will speak. Across the Atlantic, Wall Street was in the red. The SMI gained 0.45% to 12,305.45 points, after a daily high of 12,347.41 points and a low of 12,265.72 points. The SLI gained 0.60% to 1999.88 and the SPI 0.44% to 16,345.50. Of the thirty leading stocks, only six ended in the red, while Nestlé and Roche opted for the status quo. Swiss Re (+4.5%) led the way throughout the session. The Zurich-based reinsurer posted a net profit in excess of 2 billion dollars, a performance attributable to low costs due to natural disasters and successful financial investments. Sonova (+1.7%) and Sika (+1.6%) completed the podium. Novartis (+0.1%) has joined forces with US venture capital firm Versant Ventures to research and develop treatments for kidney disease. The two partners have founded a new company called Borealis Bioscience, based in Canada. Roche (-0.1%) closed in the red. Sandoz (-0.6%) and Logitech (-0.5%) brought up the rear.

European stocks moved modestly higher during trading on Thursday as the minutes of the European Central Bank's July meeting suggested policymakers are keen to explore the option of reducing interest rates at the monetary policy meeting in September. 'The September meeting was widely seen as a good time to re-evaluate the level of monetary policy restriction,' the minutes said. 'That meeting should be approached with an open mind, which also implied that data dependence was not equivalent to being overly focused on specific, single data points.' A survey showing the Eurozone manufacturing PMI fell from 45.8 to an 8-month low of 45.6 in August, also reinforced investor bets on a September ECB rate cut. Overall business activity showed surprising strength in August, as a strong rebound in the bloc's dominant services industry offset a deeper downturn among manufacturers. Elsewhere, Britain's private sector companies reported their strongest growth in four months alongside cooling price pressures. The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 0.4 percent to 515.74 after rising 0.3 percent on Wednesday. The German DAX Index also rose by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line. In corporate news, JD Sports Fashion soared by 10.7 percent. The British sportswear retailer reported an improvement in second-quarter underlying sales, driven by surging revenues in the U.S. and Europe. German ticketing group CTS Eventim also spiked by 5.8 percent after upgrading its full-year earnings outlook. Swiss Re also surged by 4.5 percent after the reinsurer reported higher profit in its first half and reiterated guidance for the full year. Lender Deutsche Bank also jumped by 4.0 percent after settling with over 80 plaintiffs in the Postbank AG litigation.

Stocks declined Thursday ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that could provide clues about the central bank's plans for interest rates. Powell on Friday is slated to speak at an annual gathering of central bankers and economists held in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Investors largely expect the Fed to lower interest rates in September, but some are split on the size of the cut. Money managers have also kept close watch on economic data that could help determine how aggressively central bankers cut interest rates. Data released Thursday signaled some weaknesses in the labor market. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose to 232,000. That was slightly more than economists had expected. In the housing market, sales of previously owned homes rose in July, ending a four-month streak of declines. Still, sales were historically low and prices remained near record-highs, reflecting how home-buying has been unaffordable to many Americans. As of late Thursday, The three main stock indexes crept lower. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 1.7%. The Dow industrials shed about 178 points, or 0.4%. A slide in oil prices halted, with Brent crude futures rising above $77 a barrel. Prices had fallen for several days on hopes of easing tensions in the Middle East. Peloton shares rallied 35% after quarterly sales at the exercise-equipment company unexpectedly grew for the first time in over two years. Shares of Advance Auto Parts and Snowflake declined about 17% and 15%, respectively, after both companies lowered guidance.

Events on the stock exchanges in East Asia and Australia will be characterised by caution on Friday. In Tokyo, explanations of the monetary policy of the Japanese central bank chief Ueda will also have to be dealt with in parliament. He confirmed the change of course that has now been adopted and said that further interest rate hikes are planned if the economy and inflation rise in line with their forecasts. With its interest rate hike on 31 July, the Bank of Japan not only drove up the yen, but also caused violent movements on the international stock markets.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield advanced, and was back above 3.85%. Through Wednesday, it had fallen for four consecutive sessions.

UBS lowers Gurit to CHF 40 (65) – Neutral
UBS raises R&S Group to CHF 22 (14.90) – Buy
Morgan Stanley lowers Brenntag to EUR 80 (88)/Equalweight – Trader

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