The asset manager Partners Group (-0.6%) has acquired a majority stake in the Portuguese biotech company FairJourney from GHO Capital Partners. FairJourney offers services for the discovery, development, production and characterisation of antibodies, as was reported in a press release on Monday. FairJourney was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Porto, Portugal. Founder António Parada will remain on board as a significant shareholder even after Partners Group joins the company. He will continue to be active in the company with his management team. Partners Group's investment is intended to accelerate FairJourney's growth. In addition to Partners Group, GHO Capital Partners has also committed to a "significant" reinvestment, the statement continues. The companies did not provide any further details regarding the amount of the investment in the press release. The Financial Times reported that FairJourney is valued at around 900 million euros.

Mirroring its European neighbours, the Swiss stock market got off to a friendly start to the new week. The SMI gained 0.5 per cent to 12,050 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 15 gainers and 5 losers. A total of 15.19 million shares were traded (Friday: 17.98 million). UBS (+2.0%) led the SMI. The bank announced the finalisation of the merger and takeover of Credit Suisse. Overall, however, UBS is likely to have ridden the Europe-wide buying wave for bank shares. After the banking sector had suffered particularly badly in recent weeks due to the elections in France, the recovery there was now correspondingly pronounced, with the Stoxx sector index gaining over 2 per cent. Julius Baer rose by 1.7 per cent. Partners Group (-0.6%) was at the bottom, undercut only by Sika (-0.8%).

Europe
European shares moved higher on Monday with French stocks seeing their strongest rise in almost two years after the first round of parliamentary elections in France suggested the far right was less likely to win an overall majority—reducing the risk of runaway government spending or a more confrontational relationship with the European Union. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.3% to 513.02 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were both up 1.1%, after falling last month on fears over the dissolution of the French National Assembly. The DAX 40 climbed 0.3% in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 remained close to equilibrium in London. The sectors that had suffered most from the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly three weeks ago rallied, including the banking, energy and property sectors. Société Générale climbed 3.1%, Crédit Agricole 2.8% and BNP Paribas 3.6%. Vinci advanced by 2.6% and Bouygues by 2.2%, while Engie shares jumped by 3%. Retail group Casino (-2%) announced that it had signed a binding agreement to sell a property portfolio to asset manager Tikehau Capital, in order to reduce its financial debt to the bondholders of its subsidiary Quatrim. Airbus (+2.6%) confirmed having signed a binding agreement with aircraft equipment supplier Spirit AeroSystems for the potential acquisition of certain activities linked to the European aircraft manufacturer, including the production of A350 fuselage sections at Kinston in the United States and at Saint-Nazaire. This deal coincides with the agreement reached by Boeing (-1% in pre-opening trading on Wall Street) to acquire Spirit AeroSystems for 4.7 billion dollars. Airline carrier Air France-KLM (-1.3%) announced on Monday its subsidiaries Air France and Transavia France were seeing pressure on expected unit revenues for the summer season, attributable to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

United States
The Nasdaq Composite climbed to a new high, as investors geared up for the second half of 2024 after a gangbusters start to the year. The tech-heavy index advanced 0.8% to its 21st record close of the year. The S&P 500 added 0.3%, which was just shy of its high reached last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1%, or 50.66 points. The gains built on an expectation-defying first-half performance, which was fuelled by Wall Street’s unflagging enthusiasm for the potential of artificial-intelligence technology. Some investors expect the rally to continue, given the prospect of interest-rate cuts and the tendency for stocks to deliver positive returns during presidential election years. Among individual stocks Monday, Boeing gained 2.6% after the jet maker said it would acquire Spirit AeroSystems, a fuselage manufacturer, in an all-stock deal. Electric-vehicle maker Tesla jumped more than 6% ahead of its expected report on second-quarter deliveries this week. Chewy shares ended a volatile day of trading 6.6% lower after meme-stock maven Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, disclosed a 6.6% stake in the online pet-supplies company. Chewy’s stock fell 6.6% after ‘Roaring Kitty’ disclosed a 6.6% stake. In economic data, an Institute of Supply Management survey suggested U.S. manufacturing contracted more than expected last month, while a government report showed construction spending slipped 0.1% in May, also missing forecasts. U.S. markets will have a shortened trading session Wednesday and be closed Thursday for the Fourth of July holiday. On Friday, investors will get a fresh look at the labor market with the release of the June jobs report. Economists expect the U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs for the month, which would be a slowdown from the 272,000 added in May. Signs that the job market and inflation are cooling have bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its September meeting. Traders are pricing in a roughly 60% chance that the Fed will cut rates in September, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Asia
Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. Not much is happening on the Chinese stock exchanges: the Shanghai Composite stagnates and the HSI in Hong Kong gains 0.6 per cent after the holiday break. In Japan, the Nikkei-225 rose by 1.1 per cent to 40,060 points. Meanwhile, South Korea's leading index, the Kospi, fell 0.9 per cent - weighed down by defence technology and automotive stocks. In Australia, on the other hand, interest rate fears weighed on the index. The S&P/ASX-200 lost 0.5 per cent.

Bonds
On Monday, investors and analysts pinned a sharp rise in Treasury yields on the fiscal implications of a potential Republican sweep in November. The 10-year Treasury note yield rose by 13 basis points to 4.469%. The 2-year Treasury note yield climbed 4 basis points to 4.762%.

Analysis
Rating Clariant: Goldman Sachs upgrades to Buy (Neutral) - Target CHF 16.80 (14.10)
Rating Bachem: Royal Bank of Canada starts with Outperform - Target CHF 100
Target price Givaudan: Goldman Sachs raises to CHF 4800 (4700) – Buy

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