Xerox Holdings has struck a deal for Lexmark International that values the maker of printers and printing software at $1.5 billion, including debt. An acquisition of closely held Lexmark was announced Monday, confirming an earlier report from The Wall Street Journal. Xerox’s takeover of the business would bring Lexmark back under U.S. ownership. The company’s current owners are printer maker Ninestar Corp. (formerly known as Apex Technology), listed in Shenzhen, China; private-equity firm PAG Asia Capital; and asset manager Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre. Xerox is expected to finance the deal with a combination of cash on hand and committed debt financing. Xerox, based in Norwalk, Conn., had a market value of a little over $1 billion as of Friday. Its share price is down more than 50% year to date, and has come under pressure in recent months from lower-than-expected equipment sales.

The Swiss market shrugged off a slightly weak start on Monday and kept moving higher as the session progressed and eventually closed on a strong note. The benchmark SMI, which edged down to 11,362.68 in early trades, closed up 103.36 points or 0.91% at 11,488.28, slightly off the day's high of 11,497.71. The Swiss market will remain closed from Tuesday to Thursday (December 24 to 26) this week for Christmas holidays. Logitech International, Holcim, Roche Holding, Swiss Re, UBS Group, Kuehne + Nagel, Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance, Novartis and Sika closed higher by 1 to 1.6%. UBS Group gained 1.35% on reports the company is considering revamping some of its business activities in France, citing a 'less favorable' market environment and following the integration of Credit Suisse into the Swiss bank. The company is reportedly presenting the plan to its works council. Richemont, Givaudan, Lindt & Spruengli, ABB, VAT Group, Partners Group, Alcon, Swisscom and SIG Group gained 0.5 to 1%. Geberit, Schindler and Sandoz Group closed slightly weak. A report from UBS & CFA Societey said the Swiss investors' sentiment index dropped by 7.6 points from the previous month to -20 in December, markits its fifth consecutive month in negative territory and the steepest decline in the sequence.

Europe
European stocks posted marginal gains in the shortened trading session on Tuesday, with investors mostly staying away on the sidelines ahead of Christmas holidays. Some major markets in the region remained shut for Christmas Eve. The pan European Stoxx 600 closed higher by 0.21%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.42% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.14%. Markets in Germany and Switzerland were closed for Christmas Eve. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain ended higher. Russia and Turkiye closed weak. The markets in Sweden, Poland, Norway, Iceland, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Austria remained shut. Markets in the U.K., Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland will remain shut on Wednesday and Thursday for Christmas holidays. In the UK market, Airtel Africa rallied nearly 4%. Pershing Square Holdings, Anglo American Plc, Vodafone Group, Melrose Industries, Croda International, Smith (DS), ICG, Spirax Group, Whitbread, Auto Trader Group, Land Securities, Centrica, Diploma, Sainsbury (J), Next and Standard Chartered gained 1 to 2.3%. Persimmon closed down 2.39%. Entain ended lower by 1.25%. Endeavour Mining, Ashtead Group, BT Group and Barratt Developments closed modestly lower. Vistry Group slumped 16% as the housebuilder issued its third profit warning of the year, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions. In the French market, STMicroElectronics gained about 2.3%. Eurofins Scientific, Teleperformance, Edenred, Renault, Unibail Rodamco, Dassault Systemes, Carrefour and Vivendi closed up 1 to 2%.

United States
After moving to the downside early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages climbed well off their early lows and spent much of the day lingering near the unchanged line. The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow crept up 28.77 points or 0.1 percent to 43,325.80, the Nasdaq slipped 10.77 points or 0.1 percent to 20,020.37 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.45 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,037.59. The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 nearly offset last week's sell-off. The Dow has closed higher for four straight sessions on the heels of a ten-day losing streak, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 has moved higher for three straight days. Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Wednesday. Many major markets overseas remained closed on Thursday in observance of Boxing Day, which may also have kept some traders on the sidelines. On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report this morning showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended December 21st. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 219,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 220,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 224,000. Reflecting the lackluster close by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Asia
Positive signs predominated on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Friday. In Seoul, on the other hand, prices fell more sharply, which observers blame on the domestic political crisis in South Korea. Overall, turnover is thin, as the trading week on many stock exchanges in the region is shortened due to the Christmas holidays. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei rose by 1.7 per cent after Japanese industrial production fell less sharply than expected in November. In addition, core consumer prices in the greater Tokyo area rose somewhat less sharply than expected in December. Meanwhile, the Japanese government is planning a record budget for the new fiscal year.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries recovered from early weakness to end the day modestly higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.2 basis points to 4.579 percent after reaching a high of 4.641 percent.

Analysis
MWB raises the Fraport target to EUR 67 (65) – Buy
DZ lowers target Novo-Nordisk to DKK 637 (772) – Hold

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