Danish brewer Carlsberg agreed to buy London-listed soft drinks maker Britvic for 3.3 billion pounds, or about $4.23 billion, as part of a plan to expand in the non-alcoholic beverage market and reduce reliance on beer sales. Carlsberg, which brews its namesake lager as well as making non-beer alcoholic drinks like Somersby cider and Garage alcopop brands, said Monday that it is offering 1,315 pence for each Britvic share, a 29.6% premium to its closing price of 1,015 pence on June 20, the day before a previous proposal by Carlsberg was made public. The offer includes cash of 1,290 pence a share and a 25 pence a share special dividend. Britvic houses 39 brands sold in more than 100 countries, including Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango and J2O. Britvic also has a deal with PepsiCo in the U.K. for the production, distribution and sales of carbonated drink brands such as Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew. It extended the long-running partnership by 20 years in late 2020.

The Swiss market ended modestly higher on Monday, as stocks recovered after a weak start and moved ahead on fairly sustained buying interest. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 45.52 points or 0.38% at 12,051.66. The index touched a low of 11,980.36 and a high of 12,111.00 in the session. Swiss Re climbed 2.61%. Holcim gained about 1.8%, Swiss Life Holding ended nearly 1.5% up, and Givaudan gained 1.13%. Zurich Insurance Group, Sandoz Group, ABB, VAT Group, Alcon, Novartis and Lindt & Spruengli gained 0.5 to 1%. Kuehne + Nagel dropped 3.1%. Julius Baer and Straumann Holding ended lower by 1.8% and 1.67%, respectively. Richemont, SIG Group and Partners Group lost 0.8 to 1.1%. Roche Holding, Sonova and Swatch Group ended modestly lower.

Europe
European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday, and the major markets in the region closed slightly down, as investors reacted to the results of French parliamentary elections, and awaited Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony this week for clues on U.S. central bank's policy path. A left-wing alliance won the most seats in the French parliament, thwarting the far right in a stunning result to Sunday's second-round vote. However, no single political faction got even close to the majority needed to form a government, creating political mayhem that has undermined the president's power and shaken the foundations of the European Union's second-largest economy. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.03%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.13%, France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.63% and Germany's DAX settled 0.02% down. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.38%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Russia ended weak. Denmark, Greece, Poland, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher, while Austria and Spain ended flat. In the UK market, Beazley rallied more than 3.5%. B&M European Value Retail climbed nearly 2%. Convatec Group, Coca-Cola, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Prudential, Natwest Group, EasyJet, Associated British Foods, Lloyds Banking Group, Burberry Group and Admiral Group gained 1 to 2%. Britvic jumped 4.7% after Danish brewer Carlsberg agreed to acquire the British soft drinks maker for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.23 billion).

United States
Stock indexes hung at or near records as the summer doldrums continued, but a busy calendar this week could spark some excitement. Major indexes have been on a slow and steady march upward for weeks, and measures of volatility are near historic lows. In another quiet session Monday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.3%, both extending a run of record closes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%. Traders will have more to chew on starting Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to testify before Congress, and Wall Street will be closely following his comments for clues on when interest-rate cuts could begin. Last week, the jobs report showed an uptick in the unemployment rate, adding to the case for a September rate cut. If the consumer-price index on Thursday shows that inflation continued to moderate in June, the Fed would have a clearer path to cuts. On Monday, chip-related stocks led the way, with Super Micro Computer, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices all adding at least 4% to finish among the S&P 500’s best performers. Corning was the index’s top gainer, jumping 12%. The maker of glass for TV screens and smartphones is getting a boost from AI and increased its sales guidance. Nike shares dropped to close around $73, a more-than-four-year low. Investors have punished the apparel maker since it reported disappointing quarterly results late last month.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia were mostly up on Tuesday. The markets in the region were led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the Nikkei 225 Index rose to a record high. It gained 2.2 per cent to 41,664 points.

Bonds
The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was steady Monday at 4.267% but has dropped roughly 0.2 percentage point since the beginning of the month, a sign that traders have grown more optimistic that there will be rate cuts this year.

Analysis
JP Morgan raises Schindler target to CHF 235 (230) – Neutral
Bank of America lowers K+S to Underperform (Buy) – Target EUR 10 (18)
UBS raises Deutche Bank target to EUR 18.70 (18.30) – Buy

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