Meta Platforms reported record revenue despite slower digital advertising growth, bolstering profits that helped fund billions in artificial intelligence and augmented reality investments. The company posted $40.59 billion in sales, an all-time high that slightly beat Wall Street expectations. The revenue growth of 19% compared with the year-earlier period was slower than the 22% growth in the three months ended in June. Advertising made up 96% of Meta’s third-quarter revenue. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has poured immense resources into capitalizing on the AI boom, increasing spending to support ambitions that include having the most-used AI assistant in the world. “Our AI investments continue to require serious infrastructure, and I expect to continue investing significantly there, too,” he said on an earnings call with analysts. “We haven’t decided on a final budget yet, but those are some of the directional trends.” The growth of artificial intelligence is an important theme as the tech giants provide their quarterly updates this week. Microsoft reported a better-than-expected rise in revenue, helped by the AI boom. Meanwhile, shares of Google parent Alphabet jumped 2.8% Wednesday after the company also provided strong numbers Tuesday.

The Swiss market ended notably lower on Wednesday after languishing in negative territory right through the day's session, as investors reacted to weak economic data, digested a slew of corporate earnings announcements, and looked ahead to some key U.S. economic data due later in the week. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 132.87 points or 1.1% at 11,967.70. The index touched a low of 11,952.43 and a high of 12,093.33. UBS Group shares dropped 4.53% despite the banking giant reporting a significant uptick in its third-quarter performance, driven by cost-cutting and robust loan income. The bank swung to a net profit of $1.43 billion in the third quarter from a year-ago loss of $711 million. In the fourth quarter, however, UBS anticipates a mid-single digit decline in net interest income in its global wealth management business and a low single-digit fall in its personal and corporate banking division. Swatch Group ended down 3.42%. Straumann Holdings, Sika and Schindler Ps lost 2.08%, 1.82% and 1.71%, respectively. Logitech International, Partners Group, Sonova, Richemont, Alcon, Kuehne + Nagel, Julius Baer, Lonza Group, VAT Group and Roche Holding closed down 1 to 1.6%. Lindt & Spruengli ended nearly 1% down. Sandoz Group climbed 3.7%. SIG Group ended with a modest gain of about 0.3%.

European stocks closed weak on Wednesday, with investors reacting to a slew of economic data from the region, the UK budget, and corporate earnings updates, in addition to closely tracking U.S. economic data and following the developments on the geopolitical front. British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves confirmed plans for new fiscal rules aimed at strengthening public services and addressing a funding gap, all while maintaining a commitment to promote growth and investment. Reeves said the budget would raise taxes by £40 billion ($51.86 billion) in a bid to plug what the Labour government has described as a 'black hole' in the country's public finances. The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.25%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.73% and Germany's DAX ended 1.13% down, while France's CAC 40 and Switzerland's SMI both fell 1.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses. Russia and Turkiye closed notably higher, while Norway ended flat. In the UK market, Anglo American Plc ended nearly 4% down. GSK ended down 3% after the company reported a loss in the third quarter and lowered its 2024 vaccine sales forecast. AstraZeneca, Diageo, Spirax Group, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Experian, Convatec Group, Relx, Lloyds Banking Group, Centrica, Rio Tinto, Reckitt Benckiser, BP and HSBC Holdings lost 1 to 3%. Entain surged 8.7%. Standard Chartered rallied 4.13% after the lender upgraded its 2024 income guidance after profits in the third quarter beat market estimates. Croda International Group gained 3.12%. Glencore ended notably higher after the company maintained its production forecast for the current year. Next moved up after raising outlook for third time in three months. Imperial Brands, Smith (DS), Pearson, B&M European Value Retail, Barclays Group, Howden Joinery, Airtel Africa, Glencore, Halma and Easyjet gained 1 to 2.7%.

Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the session on Wednesday but came under pressure in the latter part of the trading day. The major averages spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged before sliding more firmly into negative territory. After reaching a new record intraday high in early trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 104.82 points or 0.6 percent to 18,607.93. The S&P 500 also dipped 19.25 points or 0.3 percent to 5,813.67, while the Dow slipped 91.51 points or 0.2 percent to 42,151.54. The choppy trading seen for most of the trading day came as investors reacted to a mixed batch of corporate earnings and U.S. economic news. Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL) jumped by 2.8 percent after the Google parent reported third quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Snapchat parent Snap (SNAP) also soared by 15.9 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results and announcing a $500 million stock repurchase program. Meanwhile, shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) plunged by 10.6 percent after the chipmaker reported third quarter revenues that beat expectations but provided disappointing fourth quarter revenue guidance. Dow component Caterpillar (CAT) also slumped by 2.1 percent after the construction equipment maker reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings. On the U.S. economic front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. shot up by much more than anticipated in the month of October. ADP said private sector employment surged by 233,000 jobs in October after jumping by an upwardly revised 159,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected private sector employment to climb by 115,000 jobs compared to the addition of 143,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Asian and Australian stock markets tended to be weak on Thursday. The yen strengthened somewhat following the Japanese central bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged, which tends to slow down the stock market. The Bank of Japan expects inflation to remain close to the central bank's target of 2 per cent in the coming years.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after seeing early strength, closing slightly higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped less than a basis point to 4.266 percent after hitting a low of 4.198 percent.

HSBC lowers BP target to 420 (430) p – Hold
Citi raises Schneider Electric target to EUR 240 (235) – Neutral
BoA lowers target Rolls Royce to 665 (675) p – Buy

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