The Baloise insurer posted mixed results for the first six months of the year, seeing its business volume contract due to exchange rate effects but its profitability improve. Business volume fell by 0.9% year on year to CHF 5.29 billion, it announced in a press release on Thursday. In non-life business, gross written premiums rose by 3.2% to CHF 2.72 billion, while in life business they fell by 5.1% to CHF 2.16 billion. At operating level, however, EBIT rose by 1.8% to 271.9 million, while net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 6.9% to 219.8 million. Despite high costs due to bad weather, the combined ratio, which measures the ratio between premiums collected and claims costs, fell by 3.1 points to 90.4%. With regard to the outlook, the group indicated that cash generation of CHF 500 million was expected this year. The ‘attractive’ dividend strategy is to be continued.

As on the previous day, the Swiss stock market narrowly held its ground on Wednesday. The SMI lost 0.3 per cent to 11,923 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 losers and 5 gainers, while Swisscom and Kühne + Nagel closed unchanged. A total of 18.38 million shares were traded (Tuesday: 15.2 million). The day's winners were Sonova, the loser from the previous day. Givaudan (+0.8%) and Zurich Insurance (+0.7%) were also among the top performers. Logitech was at the bottom, down 1.4 per cent. Novartis lost 1.4 per cent, weighed down by a downgrade to neutral from buy by Bank of America. Holcim fell by 1.0 per cent. The cement manufacturer bought the Guatemala business of Mexico's Cemex for 200 million dollars. Among smaller caps, Sandoz fell by only 0.2 per cent, despite a downgrade to Hold from Buy by Berenberg.

The European stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as inflation figures published in the United States blew hot and cold on the markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 index remained stable at 508.0 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 lost 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt gained 0.4% and the FTSE 100 in London fell 0.2%. UniCredit (+0.2%) has acquired a 9% stake in German bank Commerzbank (+16.6%) and intends to seek regulatory approval to increase its stake to more than 9.9%. This announcement revives speculation about a merger between the two banking groups and opens up new prospects for Unicredit in Germany, according to analysts at Equita Sim. Deutsche Bank lost 1.8%. Ipsen shed 1.1%. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Dishant Gupta, the group's director of data strategy and operations, with insider trading in connection with its acquisition of the biotech Epizyme.

Stocks reversed an early decline and ended the day near session highs, rebounding from a slide that followed a slightly hotter-than-expected reading on inflation. The consumer-price index showed core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, unexpectedly picked up in August, even as the annual rate of headline inflation eased to a slower-than-expected 2.5%. The report is critical because the Federal Reserve is poised to start lowering interest rates next week, and investors are still trying to determine how fast it will move to ease policy. Following the release, investors slashed bets on the Fed kicking off its easing campaign with a big cut. Traders were also reacting to Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s first debate late Tuesday, taking positions that reflected a higher chance of a Harris election victory. Solar stocks gained, while crypto-linked ones and bitcoin fell, as did Trump Media & Technology, the Trump-backed social-media stock. The Dow industrials added 0.3%, or about 125 points. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.2%. All three indexes staged intraday comebacks that erased earlier losses. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group tumbled over 10% after Tuesday evening’s presidential debate. Meme stock GameStop fell 12% after the videogame retailer reported a sharp decline in sales.

In Asia and Australia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Thursday. The Tokyo stock market stands out among the region's stock exchanges. There, the Nikkei 225 index added 3.2 per cent to 36,750 points. Shares in chip equipment supplier Advantest jumped 8.5 per cent, Tokyo Electron was 4.2 per cent ahead. In Shanghai, the Composite Index is down 0.1 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 1 per cent. On the Seoul stock market, the Kospi advances by 1.5 per cent. In the chip sector, SK Hynix climbed 8.2 per cent. Samsung Electronics gained 1.5 per cent. According to a Reuters report, the company plans to cut up to 30 per cent of jobs in some business areas. In Taiwan, the Taiex rises by 2.9 per cent. Chip heavyweight TSMC is up 4.9 per cent and Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is up 4.4 per cent. On the less technology-heavy Australian stock exchange, the S&P/ASX-200 climbed 0.6 per cent. Uranium mining shares are in demand after Russian President Vladimir Putin called into play a restriction on Russian uranium exports. Paladin Energy jumped by 8.8 per cent, Boss Energy by 9.6 per cent and Deep Yellow by 12.6 per cent.

U.S. government debt yields rose from their lowest levels of the year after Wednesday’s data showed a key component of the August consumer-price index coming in higher than expected, reducing the likelihood of a big interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week. The 10-year Treasury note yield edged up by 2 basis points to 3.663%, while the 2-year Treasury note yield rose by 4 basis points to 3.65%.

Berenberg downgrades Sandoz to Hold (Buy) - Target unchanged at CHF 38
Rating Novartis: Bank of America downgrades to Neutral (Buy) - Target CHF 110 (120)
Rating Nestlé: Bank of America downgrades to Neutral (Buy) - Target CHF 110 (120)
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