Swiss drug major Roche reported that its group sales for the first quarter declined 6% to 14.40 billion Swiss francs from 15.32 billion francs last year. At constant exchange rates, quarterly sales increased 2% as strong demand for newer medicines as well as diagnostics products including immunodiagnostics, clinical chemistry tests and advanced staining solutions more than offset the anticipated decline in COVID‑19‑related sales and the impact of biosimilar/generic erosion. Looking ahead for fiscal 2024, Roche still expects an increase in group sales in the mid‑single digit range at constant exchange rates. Core earnings per share are targeted to develop broadly in line with sales growth at constant exchange rates, excluding the impact from resolution of tax disputes in 2023. The company expects to further increase its dividend in Swiss francs.

Swiss stocks turned in a fine performance on Tuesday on positive cues from other major markets in the region, and on hopes major central banks will start reducing rates sometime in the foreseeable future. The benchmark SMI, which stayed firm right through the day's session, settled with a gain of 141.38 points or 1.25% at 11,46915. The index climbed to a high of 11,515.09 in early afternoon trades, but pared some gains as the day progressed. Lonza Group rallied nearly 4%. Partners Group gained about 3.25%, while VAT Group, Swiss Re, Roche Holdings and Julius Baer climbed 2.1 to 2.7%. Novartis gained 1.81% after the company raised its full‑year guidance, citing momentum in its business and pipeline. The company said it expects net sales growth in high‑single to low‑double‑digit from the previous forecast of a mid‑single‑digit increase. Swiss Life Holding, Holcim, Richemont, Lindt Spruengli, UBS Group, Geberit and Straumann Holding ended higher by 1.3 to 2%. Logitech International, ABB, Schindler Ps, Givaudan, Alcon, SIG Group and Sonova posted moderate gains. Kuehne & Nagel dropped nearly 5% after the company reported a 40% decline in its first‑quarter earnings. Sandoz Group drifted down 1.4%. SGS and Swisscom ended lower by 0.9% and 0.77%, respectively.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Tuesday with several markets hitting multi‑month or multi‑year highs, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbing to a fresh all‑time high, as investors cheered some positive regional economic data and awaited a slew of earnings and economic updates from the U.S. Slightly easing worries on the geopolitical front, and optimism about rate cuts from the European Central Bank and a few other central banks in Europe contributed as well to the positive mood in the markets. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.09%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 came off the day's high, but still ended 0.26% up, a fresh record closing high. Germany's DAX surged 1.55% and France's CAC 40 ended up by 0.81%. Switzerland's SMI settled with a gain of 1.25%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed notably higher. Finland and Iceland posted marginal gains. Poland, Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Norway closed flat. In the UK market, Associated British Foods soared nearly 9%. The Primark owner lifted its annual profit guidance after reporting a 39% jump in first‑half profit. Ocado Group climbed 5.4%. JD Sports Fashion gained about 4% after it proposed to buy Hibbett in a deal that values the American sporting‑goods retailer at $1.08 billion. St. James's Place, Ashtead Group, Rolls‑Royce Holdings, Marks & Spencer, Flutter Entertainment, Auto Trader Group, Natwest Group and ICG gained 2 to 4%. Anglo American Plc dropped nealry 2.5% after cutting its diamond production guidance. SAP gained more than 5%. The software maker reaffirmed its outlook for 2024 after Q! cloud revenue increased 24 percent to 3.93 billion euro.

United States
U.S. stocks ended on a firm note on Tuesday, extending gains from previous session, with technology shares once again outperforming others, amid optimism about earnings. A batch of encouraging earnings updates, and slightly easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates helped underpin sentiment. The major averages all ended notably higher. The Dow settled with a gain of 263.71 points or 0.69 percent at 38,503.69. The S&P 500 climbed 59.95 points or 1.2 percent to 5,070.55, while the Nasdaq gained 245.33 points or 1.59 percent to settle at 15,696.64. Several technology heavyweights such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings this week. Other big names including Boeing, Intel, American Airlines, Chevron and Exxon Mobil are also slated to report their quarterly earnings during the course of this week. Verizon rallied about 3.5 percent. American Express climbed 2.5 percent, while Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs, Walt Disney, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and IBM ended higher by 1.3 to 2 percent. Netflix, Palo Alto Networks, Nvidia, Illumina, Moderna and Microchip Technology ended sharply higher. Tesla Inc. reported a few minutes after the closing bell that its total earnings totaled $1.13 billion, or $0.34 per share in the first quarter. This compares with $2.51 billion, or $0.73 per share, in last year's first quarter. Excluding items, Tesla Inc. reported adjusted earnings of $1.54 billion or $0.45 per share for the period.

Asia
In the wake of strong gains on Wall Street, share prices also rose sharply on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Wednesday. The favourites throughout the region include shares from the technology sector, after these had also led the recovery in the USA. In Seoul, for example, Samsung ELectronics rose by 2.9 per cent and SK Hynix by 4.0 per cent, with market participants pointing to the more than 3 per cent increase in Nvidia as a template. In Tokyo, Tokyo Electron rose by 6.9 per cent and Sony by 2.9 per cent. The Kospi stock market index in Seoul rose by 1.9 per cent.

Bonds
Yields on the US bond market fell slightly in line with the economic data. The yield on 10‑year paper fell by 1.0 basis points to 4.60 per cent.

Analysis
UBS lowers the Schweiter Technologies target to CHF 410 (475) – Sell
BoA lowers the Metro target to 4.80 (5.50) EUR – Underperform
HSBC raises the L'Oreal target to EUR 420 (410) – Hold

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