European prosecutors searched UniCredit's offices in Munich as part of an investigation into suspected tax fraud by a client, in a possible black eye for the Italian lender as it pursues a contentious merger with Germany's Commerzbank. The European Public Prosecutor's Office said Friday it had carried out the searches. It said it believed the fraud, committed by a bank client, could amount to €200 million ($211.8 million). The European Union agency didn't name the bank. A UniCredit spokesman confirmed its offices had been searched. Milan-based UniCredit has a big operation in southern Germany through its subsidiary HypoVereinsbank. The probe relates to a historical case involving a single client and more than one European bank, the spokesman said. He said UniCredit had reported a problem to the authorities, and that the lender is supporting the investigation by providing information. The suspect is no longer a client.

The Switzerland market ended marginally down on Friday after spending almost the entire duration of the day's session in negative territory. The benchmark SMI closed down 10.14 points or 0.09% at 11,780.65, after moving in a very narrow range between 11,747.88 and 11,808.87. Holcim ended nearly 1.5% down. The company announced that it plans to split with its North American business and list the spinoff on the New York Stock Exchange and SIX Swiss Exchange. Swiss Re, Schindler Ps, Zurich Insurance Group and Alcon closed lower by 0.8 to 1%. Novartis, Kuehne + Nagel, UBS Group and Lindt & Spruengli drifted down 0.4 to 0.7%. Swiss Life Holding and Nestle closed modestly lower. Richemont rallied nearly 3% and Swatch Group closed up 2.61%. Adecco gained 1.87% and Straumann Holding ended with a gain of 1.4%. Sandoz Group, Givaudan, Julius Baer, SIG Group, Logitech International, VAT Group, Lonza Group and Sonova closed higher by 0.4 to 1%.

Europe
European stocks closed broadly higher on Friday despite political uncertainty in France, as data showing stronger than expected growth in U.S. non-farm payroll employment aided sentiment. Optimism about the French government passing a new budget within a matter of weeks helped underpin sentiment. French President Emmanuel Macron said he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days and will get the 2025 budget adopted by parliament. The European Central Bank (ECB) meets next Thursday for the last time in 2024 and economists overwhelmingly expect another 25-basis-point rate cut - which would be the fourth such move this year. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.18%. Germany's DAX edged up 0.13% and France's CAC 40 closed higher by 1.31%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.49% and Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.09%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain ended weak, while Greece and Poland closed flat. In the UK market, B&M European Value Retail gained about 2.7%. JD Sports Fashion climbed 2.2%. Rentokil Initial, ICG, RightMove, Convatec Group, Schrodders, Croda International, Barratt Redrow, Halma and IMI advanced 1 to 2%. Frasers Group lost 4%. United Utilities and Severn Trent both declined sharply following a rating downgrade. Spirax Group, Endeavour Mining, Next and Tesco lost 2 to 3%. DCC, National Grid, Pershing Square Holdings, Melrose Industries, Marks & Spencer, BAE Systems, Reckitt Benckiser, Hiscox, Associated British Foods, Fresnillo and Compas Group closed lower by 1 to 1.7%. In the German market, Bayer, BMW, Henkel, Zalando, Puma, Beiersdorf, Volkswagen, Vonovia, Adidas, E.ON, Infineon, Continental, Mercede-Benz, Brenntag and BASF closed with sharp to moderate gains. Siemens Energy, Rheinmetall, HeidelbergCement, Munich RE, Fresenius, Allianz, Commerzbank, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Bank and Siemens Healthineers closed lower by 0.6 to 1.7%. In the French market, Kering surged more than 6%. LVMH rallied nearly 3.5%. Hermes International gained nearly 3.5%. Stellantis, Renault, Publicis Groupe, L'Oreal, Dassault Systemes, Edenred and Saint Gobain advanced 2 to 3.1%. Vivendi, Capgemini, Eurofins Scientific, Michelin, Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, Airbus Group, Pernod Ricard, AXA and BNP Paribas gained 1 to 2%.

United States
The major U.S. stock indexes all moved to the upside early in the session on Friday but turned mixed over the course of the trading day. While the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory and reach new record closing highs, the narrower Dow pulled back into negative territory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session near its best levels of the day, climbing 159.05 points or 0.8 percent to 19,859.77. The S&P 500 also rose 15.16 points or 0.3 percent to 6,090.27, but the Dow fell 123.19 points or 0.3 percent to 44,642.52. The major averages also turned in a mixed performance for the first week of December. The Dow slid by 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 1.0 percent and the Nasdaq surged by 3.3 percent. The Dow pulled back further off the record closing high set on Wednesday amid a continued slump by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH). UnitedHealth tumbled by 5.1 percent, adding to the 5.2 percent drop seen on Thursday on the heels of Wednesday's fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 benefited from a positive reaction to a closely watched Labor Department showing employment in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of November. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 227,000 jobs in November after rising by an upwardly revised 36,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the uptick of 12,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 10.6 percent after Citigroup upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia were largely unchanged on Monday. In South Korea, however, there is a clear downward trend against the backdrop of the recent political turmoil, with the Kospi slipping by 2.4 per cent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei index advanced 0.1 per cent to 39,121 points. The fact that, according to revised data, gross domestic product grew slightly more strongly than expected in the third quarter did not provide any impetus. GDP rose by 1.2 per cent on an annualised basis, compared with 0.9 per cent in the preliminary estimate.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved to the upside after ending the previous session roughly flat. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.9 basis points to 4.151 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers the Voestalpine target to EUR 19 (25) – Neutral
JPM raises the Siemens Energy target to EUR 44 (38.70) / Neutral – Trader
JPM lowers the Kion target to EUR 43 (44)/Overw. – Trader

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