OpenAI is working with Broadcom to develop custom artificial-intelligence chips, a move that could help alleviate the shortage of powerful processors needed to quickly train and release new versions of ChatGPT. Broadcom’s shares surged nearly 11% in Friday trading after the company announced during an earnings call on Thursday that it had signed up a fourth major AI developer as a customer, and that this new customer had placed a one-time order worth $10 billion for AI server racks using the Palo Alto-based firm’s chips. The new customer is OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter. The Financial Times reported the arrangement earlier. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, has been saying for months that a shortage of graphics processing units, or GPUs, has been slowing his company’s progress in releasing new versions of its flagship chatbot. In February, Altman wrote on X that ChatGPT-4.5, its then-newest large language model, was the closest the company had come to designing an AI model that behaved like a “thoughtful person.” But he lamented the delays and high costs that came with developing it.

Despite spending much of the day's trading session, the Switzerland market ended slightly down on Friday following a setback in the final hour. Investors digested a report on Swiss consumer confidence, and assessed the economic situation in the U.S. in the wake of a somewhat weak non-farm payroll data. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 12,441.10, ended the session with a loss of 12.90 points or 0.1% at 12,370.57. SGS gained nearly 4% and VAT Group climbed 3.4%. Richemont and Swatch Group gained 2.2% and 2.15%, respectively. Geberit, Amrize and SIG Group moved up 1.4 to 1.7%. Schindler Ps, Alcon, Sonova, Sika, Givaudan, Holcim and Lindt & Spruengli also ended notably higher. Adecco ended 4.7% down. Swiss Life Holding closed down by 1.7%. Swiss Re, UBS Group, Zurich Insurance, Nestle, Julius Baer and Roche Holding lost 0.5 to 1.2%. In economic news, confidence among Swiss consumers remained more negative in August, survey results from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed. The consumer confidence index dropped to -40.0 from -33.0 in July. The expected score was -37.0. Moreover, the consumer sentiment index remained well below the long-term average. The index was also worsened from -35.0 in the corresponding month last year.

Europe
The major European markets ended weak on Friday with investors assessing the economic situation in the U.S. in the wake of a report showing a weaker than expected labor market. Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data, and some corporate news. The mood in the markets was largely cautious. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.16%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.09%, Germany's DAX closed 0.73% down, and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.31%, while Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia and Sweden ended higher. Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye closed weak. In the UK market, Admiral Group, BP, Barclays, Natwest Group and Shell lost 2 to 3%. Lloyds Banking Group, Pearson and St. James's Place also ended notably lower. Entain rallied about 3.4%. Berkeley Group Holdings surged 3% after reporting 'stable' trading over the first four months of its financial year and maintaining its earnings guidance. Tullow Oil, which soared more than 12% after naming oil and gas industry veteran Ian Perks as its new CEO, pared some gains subsequently, but still settled 4.5% up. Ashtead Group, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, Sainsbury (J), Segro, Taylor Wimpey, Babcock International and Barratt Redrow gained 2 to 3%. In the German market, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, Covestro, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Puma, Beiersdorf, Bayer, Munich RE and Deutsche Bank lost 1.2 to 2.1%. Sartorius and Vonovia gained about 2.6% and 2.5%, respectively. E.ON gained 1.7% after it signed an agreement to sell its Czech subsidiary Gas Distribution s.r.o. to GasNet. Adidas, Symrise, RWE, Zalando, Merck, Infineon Technologies, Volkswagen and Rheinmetall gained 0.7 to 1.5%. In the French market, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Airbus Group, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole lost 1.2 to 2%.

United States
After failing to sustain an initial move to the upside, stocks gave back came under pressure in early trading on Friday. The major averages pulled back into negative after reaching new record intraday highs. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels as the day progressed but still closed in negative territory. The Dow slid 220.43 points or 0.5 percent to 45,400.86, the S&P 500 fell 20.58 points or 0.3 percent to 6,481.50 and the Nasdaq edged down 7.31 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,700.39. For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped by 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose by 0.3 percent, but the narrower Dow dipped by 0.3 percent. The early downturn on Wall Street came as traders digested a closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected U.S. job growth in the month of August. The report said non-farm payroll employment crept up by just 22,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 79,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected employment to increase by 75,000 jobs compared to the addition of 73,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The report also showed the uptick of 14,000 jobs that had been reported for June was downwardly revised to a decrease of 13,000 jobs. Financial stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index slumping by 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. An extended slump by the price of crude oil also weighed on oil producer stocks, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.6 percent.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia are showing some strength in Monday's trading. Support is coming from the intact prospect of interest rate cuts in the US after Friday's monthly US labour market report came in weaker than expected. There is a special development in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 per cent to 43,562 points after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned and will remain in office only until a successor is found.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher in reaction to the weaker-than-expected jobs data. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled 9.0 basis points to a five-month closing low of 4.086 percent.

Analysis
JPM lowers Melexis target to EUR 64 (66) – Neutral
JPM lowers Hellofresh target to EUR 8 (9) – Neutral
UBS raises Huber+Suhner target to CHF 140 (122) – Buy