The jewellery and watch group Richemont's business has come to a standstill. In the first half of 2024/25, watch sales in particular declined. This was due to the significant weakening of consumer sentiment in China. This also puts pressure on profitability. In the months from April to September, turnover fell by 1 per cent to 10.08 billion euros, as the Group, which includes luxury watch brands such as Piaget and IWC as well as jewellery manufacturers such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, announced on Friday. Calculated in local currencies, this resulted in zero growth. Meanwhile, operating profit (EBIT) fell by 17 per cent to 2.21 billion euros, with the margin dropping by 4.1 percentage points to 21.9 per cent. The bottom line was a profit from continuing operations, i.e. excluding the activities of the online subsidiary YNAP, of 1.73 billion euros after 2.16 billion euros a year ago. Richemont just missed analysts' expectations with the figures presented. Prior to publication, analysts had expected sales of 10.18 billion euros, EBIT of 2.33 billion euros and net profit of 1.88 billion euros. As usual, Richemont did not provide a concrete outlook for the rest of the 2024/25 financial year.

The Swiss stock market followed the positive trend on the European and US stock markets on Thursday. The SMI gained 0.6 per cent to 11,917 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 13 price gainers and six price losers, with one share closing unchanged. A total of 24.44 (previously: 30.7) million shares were traded. Swiss Re rose by 7.2 per cent. The significant increase in provisions was surprising in its scope. However, the increase in US liability reserves was evidently well received by the market. The reserves for the US liability business increased by 2.4 billion dollars. Zurich Insurance's business figures also tended to be welcomed in trading. The share price advanced 0.3 per cent. Following an upgraded outlook from German company Heidelberg Materials, Holcim climbed 1.9 per cent in the construction sector. Among small caps, AMS-Osram slumped by 13.2 per cent. After a good third quarter, however, the company was now slightly more cautious. The sales forecast for the fourth quarter was below Jefferies’ guidance.

European equity markets closed higher on Thursday, after digesting another salvo of corporate earnings releases while analysing the potential consequences of Donald Trump's victory in the United States. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.6% at 509.92 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were up by 0.8% at the close. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose by 1.7% and the FTSE 100 in London fell by 0.3%. Air France-KLM (-10.5%) reported lower-than-expected third-quarter results, weighed down by lower traffic in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games and operational difficulties at KLM. Electrical infrastructure specialist Legrand (-7.3%) reported a fall in its results for the first nine months of the year, while the building market remains difficult in most European countries. Steelmaker ArcelorMittal (+6.5%) published lower results on Thursday for the third quarter of 2024, both sequentially and year-on-year, due to a gloomy economic climate. Cable manufacturer Nexans (-4.6%) announced on Wednesday evening the operational separation of its cable business for industrial markets, formerly known as Nexans Industry Solutions & Projects, which has been renamed Lynxeo for the occasion. Nexans also announced on Thursday the launch of a share buyback programme involving a maximum of 360,000 shares, intended to cover its share allocation programme for employees and executive directors. Boatbuilder Bénéteau (+2.1%) on Wednesday confirmed its targets for the current year, following a sharp year-on-year fall in sales in the third quarter.

Stocks climbed to records Thursday as investors still celebrating Donald Trump’s election victory got another rate cut from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose in morning trading and held mostly steady after the rate-cut announcement. The broad U.S. stock index gained 0.7%, extending its 2024 advance to 25%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.5%. Both indexes ended at records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended nearly unchanged, slipping 0.59 point, or less than 0.1%, from Wednesday’s record. Major indexes soared Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its biggest gain in two years, as investors bet that Trump’s return to the White House would usher in business-friendly tax and regulatory policies. They breathed a sigh of relief that the outcome of the presidential election wasn’t in doubt, eliminating a potential source of volatility for markets. On Thursday, big tech stocks pushed higher, with Meta Platforms gaining 3.4%, Apple adding 2.1% and Amazon.com rising 1.4%. The S&P 500’s financial, industrial and energy sectors pulled back after posting big gains a day earlier. Shares of JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest lender, dropped 4.3% after climbing 12% Wednesday to a record, while Goldman Sachs fell 2.3%. The real-estate sector rose 1.2%, while the utilities group gained 0.2% and the consumer staples segment added 0.4%. Investors parsed another batch of company earnings. With results from about 87% of companies in the S&P 500, analysts expect that profits grew 5.5% in the third quarter, according to FactSet. That was enough to keep the rally going. Lyft shares jumped 23% after the ride-hailing company reported double-digit percentage gains in ridership and revenue. Zillow shares gained 24% after the real-estate platform narrowed its loss and beat analysts’ revenue expectations. Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery advanced 12% after the entertainment company reported a surprise quarterly profit, helped by stronger-than-anticipated growth in streaming subscribers. Bitcoin built on its big gains Wednesday by rising 0.5% to a new all-time high of $76,618.08. Trump has said he wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”

Asian stocks were mixed on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose slightly to 39,395 points. In Seoul, the Kospi fell by 0.2 per cent while in Shanghai (-0.5%) and Hong Kong (-0.9%) moderate profit-taking occurred after gains in early trading and a strong performance the previous day. Among individual stocks, SK Hynix rose by around 2 per cent in Seoul following the firm performance of US technology stocks, while Samsung Electronics climbed by around 1 per cent. In Tokyo, Nissan Motor slumped by 6.4 per cent after the car manufacturer reported a quarterly loss and announced a restructuring plan. In the wake, Toyota dropped 3.7 per cent and Honda 2.9 per cent. In contrast, Kawasaki Heavy's business figures reported in early trading were well received, with the share price up 3 per cent.

Long-dated U.S. government debt yields slipped on Friday. The 10-year Treasury note yield dropped by 10 basis points to 4.332%. The 2-year Treasury note yield declined by 4 basis points to 4.199%. The central bank delivered a widely anticipated quarter-percentage point cut Thursday afternoon, building on its half-point cut in September.

Price target Sensirion: Vontobel lowers to CHF 67 (72) - Hold
UBS raises Barry Callebaut to CHF 1,590 (1,400) - Neutral
Price target Oerlikon: Vontobel downgrades to CHF 4.10 (4.80) – Hold

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