Novartis said it will spend $23 billion over the next five years to expand its footprint in the U.S. The company said it will establish a research hub in San Diego, expand three U.S. plants and build six new ones. The investment will create roughly 1,000 new jobs at Novartis, and lead to around 4,000 other jobs in the U.S. outside of Novartis, the company said. It will enable Novartis to make domestically all of its medicines for the U.S., it added. The announcement comes as the pharmaceutical industry braces for potential tariffs on drugs imported into the U.S. Medicines were exempted from last week’s executive order, but industry officials and lobbyists are still preparing for them at some point. President Trump said this week the pharmaceutical tariffs would be coming “very shortly.”

Swiss stocks tumbled on Wednesday, in line with markets across Europe and elsewhere, as U.S. tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, and a 20% levy on European Union imports took effect today. The benchmark SMI ended down 471.39 points or 4.15% at 10,887.73, nearly 200 points off the day's low of 10,699.66. Sandoz Group closed down 7.83%. Novartis settled 6.41% down, and Roche Holding lost 5.84%. Adecco, Logitech International and Julius Baer lost 5.67%, 5.44% and 5.25%, respectively. UBS Group, Swiss Re, Kuehne + Nagel, ABB, Holcim, Richemont, Partners Group, Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance, Alcon, Sika, Lonza Group and Swatch Group closed down 3 to 5%. VAT Group, Straumann Holding, Sonova, Nestle, Schindler Ps, SIG Group and Geberit also declined sharply.

European moved sharply higher during on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher U.S. tariffs, with the exception of China. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Trump's move and said the halt on reciprocal tariffs is 'an important step towards stabilizing the global economy,' adding, 'Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function.' After plunging by 3.5 percent, the pan European STOXX 600 Index surged 3.7 percent to 487.28, recording its biggest gain in three years. The German DAX also soared by 4.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 3.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 3.0 percent. Buying was seen across the broad, with beaten-down banks, mining and energy stocks leading the rebound. Volkswagen jumped by 2.1 percent after announcing it has nearly doubled its all-electric vehicle (BEV) deliveries in Europe in the first quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, Barry Callebaut shares plummeted by 21.5. The Swiss chocolate maker lowered its annual volume guidance, citing 'unprecedented volatility' in cocoa bean prices. Tesco also slumped by 6.2 percent after the British food retailer said it expects to make lower profits this year amid intensifying competition in the market. In economic news, U.K. housing market conditions weakened in March as demand faded following the end of the stamp duty holiday amid rising concerns about the economic outlook.

Following an historic rally over the course of Wednesday's session, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Thursday. The major averages all posted steep losses but remain well off their recent lows. The major averages ended the day off their worst levels but still sharply lower. The Nasdaq plunged 737.66 points or 4.3 percent at 16,387.31, the S&P 500 tumbled 188.85 points or 3.5 percent to 5,268.05 and the Dow slumped 1,014.79 points or 2.5 percent at 39,593.66. The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on the spike seen in afternoon trading on Wednesday after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new 'reciprocal tariffs.' Ongoing concerns about rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China also weighed on the markets, as Trump excluded the country from the pause and even raised the tariff on Chinese goods to 125 percent. Uncertainty about what will happen between now and the end of the 90-day pause may also have led to some apprehension on Wall Street. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Labor Department report unexpectedly showing a slight decrease by U.S. consumer prices in the month of March, potentially viewing the data as 'old news.' The report said the consumer price index edged down by 0.1 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index crept up by 0.1 in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. Core prices were expected to rise by 0.3 percent. Airline stocks also showed a significant move back to the downside, resulting in an 8.4 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 8.0 plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

After Thursday's rally, share prices on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia fell again on Friday. They are thus following the lead of Wall Street. There, the most important indices closed in deep red, although they only gave back some of the massive gains from Wednesday. The Tokyo index fell sharply by 3.8 per cent to 33,286 points. This means that around half of the previous day's recovery gains have been lost again. In addition, the currency side once again had a negative impact. Although the dollar is weak across the board, the yen, with its reputation as a safe haven, is particularly sought after.

In the U.S. bond market, treasuries regained ground early in the day but pulled back near the unchanged line over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down less than a basis point to 4.394 percent.

UBS lowers Rieter target to CHF 101 (135) – Buy
Morgan Stanley lowers Kion target to EUR 36 (40) – Equalweight
Barclays raises Allianz target to EUR 320 (300) / Equalweight – Traders