September is right around the corner, and so is the next big Apple iPhone event. Apple investors and customers can finally mark their calendars - the next iPhone launch event is officially scheduled for Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. EST. Apple usually hosts its product events in September, so Wall Street has been anxiously waiting for the company to officially announce the actual date. The company launches its newest products for the year at these events. Last September, Apple showed off the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Series 9. This year’s event will stand out against the most recent ones, though. Since the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, investors have looked for announcements on Apple Intelligence, the company’s branded AI features. The new AI updates will only be available to people with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or future models. The expectation on Wall Street is that the new iPhones will lead to a major upgrade cycle from customers who want to have their own AI powered devices. The smartphone is the largest revenue driver for Apple, but the company saw sales decline in 2023 from 2022 amid competition and a pressured consumer. Shares of Apple were up 0.2% on Monday. The stock has gained 17% this year compared with the 18% increase of the S&P 500.

The Swiss stock market ended Monday's trading on a firm footing. The SMI gained 0.1 per cent to 12,354 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 10 losers and 9 gainers, while Sika closed unchanged. A total of 9.94 (previously: 16.11) million shares were traded. Investors tended to favour defensive stocks. Novartis, for example, rose by 0.5 per cent. The pharmaceutical giant has received a binding offer from Siemens Healthineers for the Advanced Accelerator Applications division. Financial details were not disclosed. As reported by the Financial Times, the purchase price is said to be over 200 million euros. The shares of competitor Roche increased by 0.6 per cent. Swisscom likewise posted an increase (+0.5 per cent). The shares of index heavyweight Nestlé climbed slightly by 0.2 per cent. On the other hand, Swiss Re (-1.8%) fell significantly. Sonova (-0.9%) and Logitech (-0.8%) also recorded significant losses. In the broader market, Meyer Burger shares slumped by 45.1 per cent. The solar cell manufacturer is abandoning the construction of a factory in Colorado, stating that it cannot be financed. Instead, the company intends to concentrate on the plant in Arizona and the German plant in Thalheim. Meyer Burger therefore warned that even lower profitability is expected in the medium term.

Europe
European stocks struggled for momentum in muted trading on Monday with U.K. markets closed for a holiday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index finished stable at 518.1 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 gained 0.2% each, while the DAX 40 shed 0.1% in Frankfurt. The London Stock Exchange remained closed due to a bank holiday. TP Icap Midcap raised its target price for BioMérieux from €106 to €112, believing that the in vitro diagnostics specialist ‘presents a sustained and defensive growth model’. The share price advanced by 0.1% to €103.5. Analysis laboratory Eurofins Scientific (-0.2%) announced on Friday evening that its PCR test to detect the mpox virus was immediately available. On 15 August, the World Health Organisation (WHO) triggered its highest level of international health alert for mpox, due to the resurgence of this disease formerly known as monkeypox in East Africa.

United States
The New York Stock Exchange finished mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones rising to a new high of 41,240.42 points after gaining 0.2%. The broad S&P 500 index, on the other hand, lost 0.3% to 5,616.84 points. After benefiting last week from the prospect of monetary policy easing, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9% to 17,725.76 points. The chips manufacturer Nvidia (-2.3%) and the enterprise software company Salesforce (+0.5%) were mixed ahead of the publication of their quarterly results on Wednesday. Computer manufacturer Dell lost 0.3% ahead of its quarterly results due on Thursday. NASA announced on Saturday that the two astronauts flown to the International Space Station in June by Boeing's Starliner (-0.9%) will return to Earth next February with competitor SpaceX. The Dutch data protection authority confirmed on Monday that it had imposed a fine of 290 million euros on Uber (-2.3%) for insufficiently protected data transfers from European drivers to its headquarters in the United States. IBM (+1%) reported on Monday that it was closing its research and development (R&D) department in China, continuing the trend of major US technology companies pulling out of the country. Microprocessor manufacturer Intel (-2%) has reportedly hired advisers, including those from Morgan Stanley, to help it defend itself against potential activist shareholders, according to information reported on Friday by CNBC. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng (+7.1% on ADR) declared in a regulatory filing the purchase of more than 2 million shares of the company by its CEO Xiaopeng He.

Asia
Asian and Australian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. In Shanghai, the Composite Index fell by 0.4 per cent. The Hang Seng Index lost 0.3 per cent in Hong Kong. The shares of e-car manufacturers BYD, Li Auto and Nio are unimpressed by the Canadian tariffs. They were little changed to 1.4 per cent firmer. In the e-commerce sector, Alibaba fell by 4.7 per cent and JD.com by 4.2 per cent. On the Nasdaq, shares of competitor PDD Holdings slumped by almost 29 per cent on Monday after the Temu parent company issued a profit warning. On the Tokyo stock exchange, the Nikkei was up 0.1 per cent. Advantest lost 2.3 per cent, Lasertec 5.8 per cent and Tokyo Electron 2.6 per cent. In Seoul, chip stocks are also at the top of the sell lists. SK Hynix dropped by 2.5 per cent and Samsung Electronics by 0.1 per cent. The leading index Kospi sank by 0.3 per cent. Meanwhile, the Australian stock market held up well. BHP's share price climbed 1.9 per cent after the mining group presented figures for the 2023/24 financial year. Investors do not seem to be bothered by the fact that BHP is cutting its dividend. The figures from Woodside (+4.4 per cent) were also well received.

Bonds
U.S. Treasury yields were little-changed early Monday after falling last week as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell teed up a September interest-rate cut. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose by one basis point to 3.82%. The 2-year Treasury note yield gained 3 basis points to 3.94%.

Analysis
Price target DocMorris: Research Partners downgrades to CHF 95 (105) - Buy
Price target Bossard: UBS lowers to CHF 179 (181) - Sell
Target price Inficon: Kepler Cheuvreux cuts to CHF 1460 (1500) – Buy

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