The House of Representatives narrowly passed the Republicans' sweeping tax and budget bill, handing President Donald Trump a major victory in his second term and once again demonstrating his power to keep Republican lawmakers in line. Thursday's 218-214 vote sends the bill to Trump's desk ahead of the July 4 deadline he had set for Congress to finalize the legislation, which provides tax cuts, strengthens border security, and reduces social safety net spending. Trump and Republican leaders pushed the bill through the House after an all-night session, despite the reluctance of many lawmakers regarding the version passed by the Senate by a vote of 51 to 50 earlier this week.

After swinging between gains and losses in somewhat lackluster trade, the Switzerland market closed marginally down on Thursday as investors awaited fresh news on the trade front, while digesting some crucial economic data from the region. The benchmark SMI ended down 13.88 points or 0.12% at 11,978.36. The index touched a high of 12,039.14 and a low of 11,945.97 in the session. Swiss Re gained nearly 2%. Zurich Insurance climbed about 1.7%, while SGS and Swiss Life Holding closed higher by 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Partners Group, ABB, Adecco, UBS Group, Nestle and Amrize ended with moderate gains. Sika ended down 2%. Novartis and Alcon, both closed lower by about 1.65%. Straumann Holding, Roche Holding, Lindt & Spruengli, Swatch Group and Kuehne + Nagel also ended weak. Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's consumer prices rebounded unexpectedly in June after decreasing for the first time in more than four years in May. The consumer price index rose 0.1% annually in June, reversing a 0.1% decrease in May. Meanwhile, economists had expected a stable decrease of 0.1%. Excluding food and energy, core inflation rose slightly to 0.6% from 0.5% a month ago.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Thursday on selective buying as investors focused on trade negotiations and digested regional economic data. Data showing stronger than expected U.S. non-farm payroll employment, and receding concerns about the political situation in the UK helped underpin sentiment. Among the major markets, the U.K. market outperformed amid easing political concerns after the nation's Prime Minister Keir Starmer publicly backed Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The reassurance from Starmer that Reeve would remain Chancellor 'many years to come' helped lift investor sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.11%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.45%. Germany's DAX crept up 0.06% and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.14%. Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.12%. Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Belgium and Denmark ended weak, while Iceland and Ireland closed flat. In the UK market, Coca-Cola gained nearly 4%. Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Convatec Group, Pershing Square Holdings, SSE, Next, Airtel Africa and Tesco gained 2.3 to 3.2%. Schroders, RightMove, Berkeley Group Holdings, Marks & Spencer, Barclays, Weir Group, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Intermediate Capital Group also moved up sharply. Murray Income Trust Inc. gained 3.2% after its board launched a surprise strategic review. 3i Infrastructure climbed about 1.7% after it reported fiscal Q1 total income in line with expectations. Watches of Switzerland Group Plc shares ended lower by more than 7% after the company warned of a margin hit from U.S. tariffs. Rio Tinto and AstraZeneca ended lower by about 2% and 1.8%, respectively. Melrose Industries, GSK and Anglo American Plc also closed weak. In the German market, Commerzbank, Henkel, SAP and Infineon climbed 2 to 2.5%. Puma, Bayer, Siemens Healthineers and BMW ended lower by 0.9 to 1.2%.

United States
After moving mostly higher over the course of Wednesday's session, stocks saw continued strength during trading on Thursday. With the continued advance, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached new record closing highs. The major averages moved roughly sideways after an early upward move, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 207.97 points or 1.0 percent to 20,601.10, the S&P 500 advanced 51.93 points or 0.8 percent to 6,279.35 and the Dow climbed 344.11 points or 0.7 percent to 44,828.53. The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of June. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May. Economists had expected employment to increase by 110,000 jobs compared to the addition of 139,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent in June from 4.2 percent in May. The unemployment rate was expected to inch up to 4.3 percent. Meta Platforms is offering to buy a minority stake in funds of the venture firm founded by two of its key artificial intelligence recruits, giving limited partners in the funds a chance for a quick payday. Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross helmed NFDG, a venture firm they created a few years ago, before agreeing to join Meta. As they step back from NFDG, Meta is proposing to buy out a minority stake in its funds from limited partners via a tender offer, according to people familiar with the situation.

Asia
There was no sign of the record-breaking run seen on Wall Street the previous evening on the Asian stock markets on Friday. In Japan, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba countered the impression that there had been little progress in the negotiations with the USA on a trade agreement. The Nikkei-225 fell by 0.1 per cent to 39,736 points and was thus rather inconspicuous.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries have seen continued weakness in reaction to the stronger than expected jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, has advanced 5.5 basis points to 4.348 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America raises Nestle target to CHF 100 (97) – Buy
HSBC raises L'Oreal to EUR 333 (331) – Hold
HSBC raises BMW to EUR 77 (76) – Hold