The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted Wednesday to allow mainstream investors in U.S. to buy and sell bitcoin as easily as stocks and mutual funds, a decision hailed by the industry as a game changer. The SEC decision clears the way for the first U.S. exchange-traded funds that hold bitcoin to be sold to the public. Expectations of U.S. regulatory approval for such funds drove the price of bitcoin to the highest level in about two years. The digital currency traded just below $46,000 late Wednesday, up from $17,000 in January 2023. All 11 applications filed by asset managers including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, ARK Investment Management, Invesco, WisdomTree, Bitwise Asset Management, Valkyrie and Grayscale Investments have been greenlighted to list. “Today is a monumental day in the history of digital assets,” Samir Kerbage, chief investment officer at bitcoin ETF issuer Hashdex, said in a statement. Crypto assets were mixed after the SEC’s decision. Ether, the second largest digital currency rose nearly 10%. Coinbase Global, the largest publicly traded crypto exchange whose stock price tends to move in tandem with bitcoin, fell 1.4% in after-hours trading. Coinbase is listed as the custodian on eight of the 11 spot-bitcoin ETF applications.

Looking for New Structured Product Ideas?
https://en.swissquote.com/trading/investment-products/yield-boosters

The Swiss market ended slightly up on Wednesday after a choppy session with investors largely refraining from making significant moves amid a lack of fresh triggers. The benchmark SMI, which moved in a narrow range, ended with a small gain of 6.35 points or 0.06% at 11,255.00. The index touched a low of 11,202.95 and a high of 11,276.39 in the session. Alcon, up nearly 3.5%, was the top gainer in the SMI index. Lonza Group climbed 2.2% and Logitech International gained about 1.1%. Roche Holding, Novartis, ABB, Givaudan, Sonova, Swisscom and UBS Group posted modest gains. Sika dropped 3.79%, and Geberit ended 1.2% down. Holcim, Zurich Inurance Group and Nestle ended lower by 0.8%, 0.7% and 0.56%, respectively. In the Mid Price Index, VAT Group surged 3%. Galenica Sante, Avolta, Swiss Prime Site and Julius Baer gained 0.5 to 0.8%. Sandoz, Adecco, Temenos Group, SIG Combibloc and SGS ended down 1.9 to 2.5%, while SGS, Belimo Holding, Barry Callebaut, Clariant, Schindler Holding and Schindler Ps last 1 to 1.6%.

Europe
European stocks closed lower on Wednesday amid worries about economic slowdown in the region and a bit of uncertainty about the outlook for Federal Reserve's interest-rate trajectory ahead of inflation data. Growth worries weighed after European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said the euro zone is facing weak growth and a possible recession. De Guindos said that economic weakness was broad-based, with construction and manufacturing hit particularly hard and services likely to follow in the coming months. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.18%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 drifted down 0.42%, France's CAC 40 edged down 0.01%, and Germany's DAX crept up 0.01%, while Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.04%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden ended weak. Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Russia and Turkiye closed higher, while Spain ended flat. In the UK market, shares of supermarket chain J Sainsbury ended down by more than 6% after the company revealed a strong Christmas sales performance for groceries but falls in non-food categories. Admiral Group ended 4.7% down. BT, Flutter Entertainment, Ocado Group, Endeavour, Beazley and Fresnillo shed 2.6 to 4%. Marks & Spencer, Natwest Group, Mondi, Entain, Vodafone, Centrica and Lloyds Banking also ended sharply lower. Intertek, Berkeley Holdings, Barratt Developments, Relx, IHG, Taylor Wimpey and BAE Systems gained 1 to 2%.

United States
Major stock indexes rose Wednesday in a quiet session ahead of key inflation data and bank earnings. The S&P 500 added 0.6% to close within 0.3% of its record high, set just over two years ago. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5% higher. Stocks fell in the first week of 2024 but have regained ground since, with the S&P 500 turning positive for the year on Wednesday. Investors will get their latest look at inflation on Thursday with the release of consumer-price data for December. Stocks have rallied since the Federal Reserve signaled last month that it could cut benchmark interest rates this year in response to falling inflation. Traders are eager to see if the data still looks encouraging. Earnings season kicks off in earnest on Friday, when Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are set to report results. Investors will be closely watching what CEOs of the banks have to say about the health of the economy. Whether companies have been able to keep raising prices will also be key for both corporate profits and the inflation outlook. On Wednesday, Meta Platforms shares rallied 3.7% after Mizuho Financial Group put out a bullish analyst report on the parent company of Instagram and Facebook. Microsoft shares were up 1.9%. The software-maker is on the verge of overtaking Apple for the title of most valuable company by market capitalization, pulling within 2% of Apple’s market value on Wednesday. Boeing shares stabilized, rising 0.9% after falling sharply earlier in the week following a door-plug failure that resulted in roughly 170 of its planes being grounded. Intuitive Surgical was the S&P 500’s best performer, rising 10% after the robotic-assisted surgery specialist released preliminary quarterly revenues that beat estimates.

Asia
The trend on the stock markets in East Asia was favourable across the board on Thursday, with the indices in Tokyo and Hong Kong even showing a very firm trend. Sydney has already ended the trading day with a gain of 0.5 per cent. The Nikkei index in Tokyo rose by a further 1.9 per cent to 35,101 points following the previous day's gain of 2 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. treasury yields were little changed, with the benchmark 10-year yield hovering just above 4%.

Analysis
JP Morgan lowers the Air France target to EUR 9.20 (9.30) – Underweight

Citi lowers the Clariant target to EUR 11.50 (14) – Neutral

Bank of America raises the Sika target to CHF 270 (240) – Neutral