French distiller Pernod Ricard (+2%) anticipates a soft first quarter after lower sales and earnings in the last fiscal year, though China’s decision to pause dumping measures against brandy from the European Union offered a bright spot in a key market. The company—which houses brands such as Absolut vodka and Ballantine’s whisky—said Thursday that it expects sales to return to growth in fiscal 2025, but the first three months would be sluggish, partly due to further inventory destocking in the U.S. For the year ended in June, the company booked sales of 11.6 billion euros ($12.90 billion), down 4% in reported terms from a year earlier. Profit from recurring operations decreased 7%, while net profit dropped 35% to 1.48 billion euros. In the midterm, Pernod Ricard expects to reach the upper end of its target range of between 4% and 7% growth in net sales, as well as organic operating leverage of 50 to 60 basis points.

The Swiss stock market ended trading on Thursday on an upward trend. The SMI increased by 0.6 per cent to 12,418 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 14 price gainers and 6 price losers. A total of 14.72 (previously: 12.08) million shares were traded. There was no clear trend among investors. Logitech led the SMI with a rise of 1.8 per cent, followed by Sika (+1.6%) and Partners Group (+1.5%). The shares of index heavyweight Nestlé advanced 0.9 per cent. Among the two pharmaceutical giants, Roche closed 1.1 per cent higher and Novartis improved by 0.4 per cent. Insurance stocks were less in demand among investors. Swiss Re dropped by 0.7 per cent and Zurich Insurance by 0.4 per cent. Swiss Life, meanwhile, closed up 0.3 per cent.

Europe
The European stock markets posted another session of gains on Thursday, as investors welcomed the economic indicators published on both sides of the Atlantic. The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 0.8% to 524.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 also picked up 0.8% each. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.7%, breaking through the 18,900-point barrier for the first time. In London, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.4%. Teleperformance shares fell by 6.5%, as the new organisation announced by the call centre operator worried the market, according to a Paris-based analyst. Viridien (ex-CGG) shares advanced 7.9% as the oilfield services group revealed that it had sold a total of 30,000 Wing onshore seismic nodes to German engineering and consulting services group DMT GmbH & Co KG. The value of the contract was not disclosed. ID Logistics shares tumbled 7.1%, with the logistics services specialist's cash flow levels in the first half of 2024 the ‘bad news’ of its financial release, according to TP ICAP Midcap. VusionGroup shares rallied 4.2% as the electronic labels specialist won a contract in Austria with supermarket group Spar. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Eiffage shares shed 1.9% as the construction and concessions group published unsurprising half-year results, according to Invest Securities in a note.

United States
The U.S. economy grew 3% in the second quarter, according to updated Commerce Department estimates, up from the previous reading of 2.8%. The stock market escaped disappointing Nvidia results largely unscathed. The Nvidia-less Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, or 244 points, notching its 25th record of the year. The S&P 500 finished roughly flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell just 0.2%. For most companies, a doubling in sales and earnings would count as a blowout quarter. Not so for Nvidia, the chip designer at the center of Wall Street’s artificial-intelligence mania. Investor expectations were so elevated in recent days—earnings watch party, anyone?—that shares retreated 6.4% Thursday. Nvidia’s results highlighted challenges from the increased complexity of the company’s newest products, as well as growth slowing from the rapid clip it set over the past year. Still, the company’s stock price is up 0.5% this month and 137% this year. If Nvidia’s results foreshadow a slowdown in the AI craze, tech investors haven’t totally gotten the message. Most of the other big-name firms in the AI supply chain finished Thursday in the green. Earnings drove some big moves in individual stocks. Shares in Dollar General plunged 32% while those of Okta tumbled 18%. Affirm ripped 32% higher, while Best Buy popped by 14%. Lululemon Athletica was among the companies filing results after markets closed. Small caps led the pack. The Russell 2000 index notched a 0.7% increase.

Asia
In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains at the end of the week. The markets in the region were led by the Hong Kong stock exchange. Here, the Hang Seng Index is up 1.8 per cent. The sub-index of technology stocks gained 3 per cent. Among the individual stocks, Meituan improved by 3 per cent, Alibaba by 1.8 per cent and Tencent by 1.1 per cent. Hardware stocks such as Xiaomi (+3.9 per cent) are in demand in the technology sector. The share price of telecoms equipment provider ZTE rose by 3 per cent. Automotive stocks are recovering from the previous day's losses. Great Wall Motor gained 8 per cent after its profit more than quintupled in the first half of the year. Li Auto jumped almost 9 per cent. BYD increased by 6 per cent. China Life Insurance rises 5.9 per cent following the presentation of business figures. In Shanghai, the Composite Index climbed 1.3 per cent. Traders speak of buying at the end of the month. Investors are optimistic about the Chinese purchasing managers' indices, which are due to be published at the weekend, they say. On the Japanese stock market, the Nikkei 225 index advanced by 0.5 per cent to 38,545 points. In Seoul, the Kospi rose by 0.6 per cent. In the chip sector, SK Hynix recovered by 2.2 per cent. The share price of index heavyweight Samsung Electronics is up 0.8 per cent. LG Electronics improved by 3.4 per cent after the holding company of the household appliance manufacturer decided to increase its stake through share purchases.

Bonds
Treasury yields rose Thursday after the latest batch of U.S. economic reports reassured investors that the Federal Reserve likely won’t need to lower interest rates aggressively. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose by 2 basis points to 3.864%. The 2-year Treasury note yield advanced by 3 basis points to 3.895%.

Analysis
Sonova price target: Vontobel upgrades to CHF 310 (300) - Hold
Bernstein raises Roche target to CHF 340 (305) / Outp. - Trader
Target price Stadler Rail: JP Morgan lowers to CHF 25.40 (27) – Underweight

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