Apple’s revenue declined for the fifth time in the past six quarters, dragged down by ailing iPhone sales and new competition from smartphone rivals in China. Still, shares of Apple rose 6% in after-market trading as the company authorized $110 billion in stock buybacks and signaled that the current quarter is likely to see revenue growth. Also, while sales and profits fell in the March quarter, the numbers were slightly better than analyst expectations. Apple is struggling on a number of fronts. The company’s single most important business - the iPhone - has faced sluggish growth. In recent years, Apple has seen success by steering consumers toward its more expensive “Pro”-designated phones. Its latest iPhone 15 Pro Max was its most expensive ever with a starting price of $1,200. But this premium strategy isn’t propping up overall revenue as much as it did in the past. In the most recent quarter, iPhones sales declined 10.5% from the prior year to $46 billion, in line with analyst projections. For the quarter, Apple sales were $90.75 billion, down 4.3% from the prior year, and profit fell 2.2% to $23.6 billion. Revenue from Apple’s services business, which includes App Store sales and subscription revenue from music, TV, and other offerings, grew 14.2% to $23.87 billion.

The Swiss stock market - as tracked by the SMI benchmark index - lagged its European counterparts on Thursday. After the public holiday break on 1 May, the fact that inflation in Switzerland unexpectedly rose by 1.4 per cent in April, whereas economists had expected only 1.1 per cent, had a dampening effect. These dented hopes of interest rate cuts and pushed up the Swiss franc, which in turn caused Swiss companies' exports to become more expensive. The euro last traded at 0.9760 francs, compared with over 0.9820 in the morning. The SMI lost half a per cent to 11,210 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 10 gainers and 9 losers, with only Sika closing unchanged. A total of 24.46 million shares were traded (Tuesday: 25.2 million). The clear SMI laggard was heavyweight Roche. Its share price fell by 2.9 per cent without any new news. The share price of competitor Novartis also declined, albeit by only 0.2 per cent. Novartis is buying the US biotech company Mariana Oncology for up to USD 1.75 billion to strengthen its pipeline in radioligand therapy, a nuclear medicine treatment for certain types of cancer. Swisscom slipped by 1.9 per cent. The telecoms company reported lower revenue and operating profit for the first quarter, while confirming its outlook.

Europe
The European stock markets closed in the red on Thursday, as investors digested a fresh salvo of corporate publications and expressed some relief that the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting passed without a shift to notably more hawkish rhetoric. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.2% to 503.2 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were down by 0.9% and 0.7% respectively. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt lost 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.6%, buoyed by an 8.8% rise in Standard Chartered shares. Call centre operator Teleperformance (+13.9%) performed better than expected in the first quarter and confirmed that its business growth should accelerate in the second half of the year. Imerys (+12.6%) announced that it expected a "gradual recovery" in its markets over the coming quarters, after publishing mixed results for the first three months of the year, marked by a low level of activity in residential construction. Worldline (+10.2%) recorded sales growth ahead of analysts' forecasts in the first quarter. The steel group ArcelorMittal (+3.1%) on Thursday confirmed its demand forecasts for 2024, despite a year-on-year fall in its first-quarter results in a gloomy economic climate. British bank Standard Chartered (+8.8% in London) reported a 5.2% rise in net profit to 1.22 billion dollars for the first quarter. Shell (+1.9% in London) reported a smaller-than-expected decline in adjusted first-quarter profit, thanks to strong margins in crude oil and petroleum products trading. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (-2.7% in Copenhagen) lifted its growth outlook for the 2024 financial year by one percentage point to take account of more favourable prices in the United States and global demand still outstripping supply for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs.

United States
Technology shares led stock indexes higher Thursday ahead of a key jobs report that will give investors their next look at how the U.S. economy is faring. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.5%, while the benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.9%, snapping two-day losing streaks for both indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%, or 322 points. Record first-quarter sales from Amazon.com earlier this week boosted optimism for big tech firms. After the market close, Apple reported quarterly sales and earnings that fell from a year ago, but not as much as analysts expected. The iPhone-maker also authorised $110 billion in stock buybacks, and its shares rose in after-hours trading. Among individual stocks Thursday, Qualcomm shares jumped 9.7% after the chip company reported sales and profit that beat expectations. Moderna shares climbed 12.7% after it reported better-than-expected quarterly sales and signaled confidence that sales will pick up later this year. Etsy shares fell to their lowest level in four years, tumbling 15.1%, after the e-commerce retailer posted lower-than-expected gross merchandise sales for the first quarter. Paramount shares jumped 13% after reports that Sony Pictures and private-equity giant Apollo Global Management submitted a $26 billion all-cash offer for the company.

Asia
In Asia and Australia, major indexes broadly closed with gains at the end of the week. There is no trading on the stock exchanges in Japan and Shanghai due to public holidays. In Hong Kong, the stock market rises again significantly after the previous day's gains. The Hang Seng Index climbs by 1.1 per cent. In Seoul, the Kospi advances 0.2 per cent. The shares of internet giant Naver rise by 3.1 per cent after net profit in the first quarter increased almost 13-fold compared to the previous year, exceeding market expectations. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 adds 0.6 per cent. Macquarie dropped 2.2 per cent. The financial group reported a 32 per cent fall in annual profits and cut its dividend by 14 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields finished mostly lower on Thursday, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell guided financial markets away from the likelihood of any interest-rate hike. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell by a further 5 basis points to 4.585%, after easing the previous day. The 2-year Treasury note yield, the most sensitive to the Fed's short-term interest rate policy, gave up 8 basis points to 4.893%.

Analysis
Rating Galderma: Morgan Stanley starts with Equal Weight - Target 72 CHF
Target price ABB: Berenberg raises to CHF 37 (35) - Hold
Rating Logitech: JPMorgan downgrades to Neutral (Overweight) - Target USD 85 (92)

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