Broadcom stock fell after the company posted slightly better-than-expected earnings for its April quarter late Thursday. For its fiscal second quarter, the company reported revenue of $15 billion versus the Wall Street consensus of $14.96 billion, according to FactSet. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.58 per share, which is above the $1.57 analysts’ consensus estimate. Guidance was roughly in line. For the current quarter, Broadcom guided to $15.8 billion in revenue, compared with analysts’ expectations of $15.75 billion. Broadcom shares fell 3% following the release. The company said its semiconductor-solutions segment for the fiscal second quarter had revenue of $8.4 billion, while the infrastructure-software segment generated $6.6 billion. On the earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Hock Tan said AI chip demand may accelerate during the second half of 2026 due to strong inference demand. Inference is the process of generating answers from AI models. Broadcom’s semiconductors compete in several categories, including networking, broadband, server storage, wireless, and industrial. The company is also a leader in the market for high-end AI application-specific integrated circuits, or AI ASICs. It helps large technology companies design custom chips for AI. On Tuesday, J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur reiterated an Overweight rating on Broadcom stock and reaffirmed a target of $250 for the price.

The Switzerland market, which stayed positive till well past noon on Thursday, suffered a mild setback in the penultimate hour of the session, but recovered to end the day's session marginally higher. Investors reacted positively to the European Central Bank's decision to lower interest rate by 25 basis points. The market also digested Swiss unemployment data. The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 12,267.25 from a high of 12,365.19, settled at 12,317.62, gaining 19.12 points or 0.16%. Holcim rallied 3.25%. Sandoz Group climbed 3.16% and Alcon gained 2.05%. Geberit ended 1.7% up, while VAT Group, Logitech International and Schindler Ps gained 1.35%, 1.25% and 1.1%, respectively. Novartis and Swisscom posted modest gains. Richemont drifted down 2.1%. Swatch Group closed down 1.49% and Lindt & Spruengli lost 1.1%. Adecco, SGS, Kuehne + Nagel and Partners Group ended moderately lower. On the economic front, Switzerland's unemployment rate held steady in May after falling slightly in the previous month, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, said. The unadjusted unemployment rate stood at 2.8% in May, the same as in April. That was in line with expectations.

Europe
European stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday with investors digesting the European Central Bank's interest rate decision, and a slew of regional economic data, in addition to assessing the potential impact of Trump Administration's tariff moves on global trade and growth. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.16%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.11% and Germany's DAX closed 0.19% up, while France's CAC 40 ended 0.18% down. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.16%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Czech Republic, Iceland and Poland ended weak, while Portugal closed flat. The European Central Bank lowered its key rates by 25 basis points today, as expected. With this decision, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations, the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility stood at 2.15%, 2.4% and 2%, respectively. However, the ECB hinted at a pause in its year-long easing cycle after inflation finally returned to its 2% target. ECB President Christine Lagarde said the central bank for the 20 countries that share the euro was in a 'good position', which investors took as signalling a break in cuts, if not an end to policy easing. In the UK market, Antofagasta and Fresnillo climbed 5.3% and 5%, respectively. Babcock International, Smith & Nephew, British American Tobacco, Anglo American Plc, Experian and Imperial Brands also moved up sharply. Wise Plc shares gained more than 7% after the fintech firm said it would move its primary listing from London to New York. Shares of budget air carrier Wizz Air Holdings tanked nearly 28% after the company reported an around 62% slide in annual operating profit, citing growth challenges and capacity constraints.

United States
Following the volatility seen in the previous session, stocks continued to fluctuate over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages once again spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing in negative territory. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 162.04 points or 0.8 percent to 19,298.45, the S&P 500 fell 31.51 points or 0.5 percent to 5,939.30 and the Dow dipped 108.00 points or 0.3 percent to 42,319.72. Stocks saw some strength earlier in the day after President Donald Trump confirmed in a post on Truth Social that he had an approximately 90-minute phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump described the phone call with his Chinese counterpart as 'very good' and said it 'resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries.' The president also said the two countries' teams will be 'meeting shortly at a location to be determined' and noted the conversation was focused 'almost entirely' on trade. The phone call between Trump and Xi comes following recent signs of rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the trade agreement reached last month. Lululemon Athletica cut its profit outlook for the year, as proposed tariffs threaten the company’s supply chain. The maker of yoga pants and other athletic wear on Thursday said it now expects earnings of $14.58 to $14.78 a share for the fiscal year, down from its prior outlook of $14.95 to $15.15. The lowered profit view came as the company still expects sales of $11.15 billion to $11.3 billion. The company expects its margins to come under pressure from proposed U.S. tariffs, which affect products from some of its largest sourcing bases including Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

Asia
The Asian stock markets were largely unchanged on Friday. Prices in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell slightly, while in Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index was up 0.3 per cent at 37,654 points, supported by the slightly weaker yen. With the day's trend, the Asian stock exchanges are at least proving resistant to the weaker US data. The stock exchange in Seoul remains closed for a public holiday.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled into negative territory after seeing early strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.9 basis points to 4.394 percent, after hitting a nearly one-month intraday low of 4.318 percent.

Analysis
Barclays lowers Eon to Equalweight (Overweight)
UBS raises the Symrise target to CHF 119 (117) – Buy
UBS lowers the Clariant target to CHF 13 (14) – Buy