Microsoft plans to invest $80 billion in data centers for artificial intelligence technology in the fiscal year ending in June, continuing its strategy of shoveling money into the infrastructure behind the technological boom. The tech giant’s president Brad Smith disclosed the number in a blog post urging the incoming Trump administration to support policies friendly to Microsoft’s AI ambitions, including investments in research and worker training and targeted export controls on China. Spending $80 billion on data centers would continue the trajectory set in Microsoft’s first quarter of the fiscal year, ending in September, when it spent $20 billion on capital expenditures and leases, primarily for data centers. Last fiscal year, Microsoft spent $55.7 billion on capital expenditures and leases. The number may not be exactly comparable to the $80 billion figure Smith disclosed Friday.

After a positive start, Swiss stocks retreated and moved along the flat line right till the end of the day's trading session on Friday, as investors, returning to the market after New Year holidays, refrained from making significant moves. The benchmark SMI closed with a modest gain of 23.12 points or 0.2% at 11,624.02. The index, which advanced to 11,663.64 in early trades, touched a low of 11,547.13 in the final hour. UBS Group climbed 2.63% after BNP Paribas upgraded the stock's rating to 'outperform.' Swiss Life Holding advanced 1.86%, SIG Group gained 1.51%, and Partners Group closed up 1.26%. Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Re, Sandoz Group and Lindt & Spruengli gained 0.9 to 1.2%. Swatch Group shares fell 4.52%. Richemont closed down 2.65%, while Sika and Straumann Holding ended lower by 1.34% and 1.18%, respectively. Alcon, Geberit, Givaudan, Schindler Ps and Julius Baer lost 0.4 to 0.7%. On the economic front, Switzerland's procure.ch Manufacturing PMI edged down to 48.4 in December 2024 from 48.5 in the previous month, slightly above market forecasts of 48.3.

Europe
European stocks closed weak on Friday, retreating after scoring strong gains on the first session of Year 2024. Losses in automobile, luxury and travel sectors weighed on the markets on a day when investors largely stayed cautious, looking for directional clues. The drop in shares from the luxury sector was due to sharp near 30% drop in duty-free sales in China's island province of Hainan last year. The pan European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.49%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended lower by 0.44%, Germany's DAX lost 0.59% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.51%, while Switzerland's SMI bucked the trend and gained 0.2%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and Spain ended weak. Iceland closed slightly down. Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Turkiye closed higher. Austria and Sweden edged up marginally. In the UK market, Diageo, Persimmon, Barratt Redrow, EasyJet, Taylor Wimpey, Entain, Prudential, Whitbread, Spirax Group, Melrose Industries and WPP closed down 2 to 4%. Shell gained more than 1.5%. BP, Pershing Square Holdings, Scottish Mortgage, DCC, British Land Company, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and Centrica also closed higher. In the German market, RWE climbed nearly 2.5%. Rheinmetall, Siemens Energy and Hannover Rueck gained 1.7 to 2%. Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and Deutsche Telekom posted moderate gains. BASF, Puma, BMW and Bayer lost 2 to 2.5%. Vonovia, Infineon, MTU Aero Engines, Sartorius, Porsche, SAP, Brenntag, Siemens and Mercedes-Benz closed lower by 1 to 1.7%. In the French market, Kering closed with a loss of about 5.5%. ArcelorMittal drifted down 4.7%, while LVMH, Stellantis, Hermes International and Pernod Ricard lost 3 to 4%. Publicis Groupe, Michelin, Accor, Societe Generale, Saint-Gobain, Renault, Veolia, Essilor, L'Oreal, Dassault Systemes, BNP Paribas, Edenred, STMicroElectronics, Sanofi, Safran, Legrand and Credit Agricole lost 1 to 3%.

United States
After trending lower over the past several sessions, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Friday. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge. The major averages pulled back off their best levels in late-day trading but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 340.88 points or 1.8 percent to 19,621.68, the S&P 500 jumped 73.92 points or 1.3 percent to 5,942.47 and the Dow climbed 339.86 points or 0.8 percent to 42,732.13. Despite the rebound on the day, the major averages all moved lower for the holiday-interrupted week. The Dow slid by 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both fell by 0.5 percent. The strength on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 had closed lower for five straight sessions, with the Nasdaq ending Thursday's trading at its lowest closing level in a month. President Biden blocked the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, fulfilling his pledge to keep the storied steelmaker domestically owned. Biden’s decision comes after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., a federal interagency panel, spent months reviewing the $14.1 billion deal for potential national-security risks. In an order Friday, the White House required the companies to abandon the deal within 30 days unless Cfius agrees to extend the timeline. Technology stocks helped lead the rebound on Wall Street, as reflected by the particularly strong gain posted by the Nasdaq. Computer hardware and semiconductor stocks turned in some of the tech sector's best performances, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 3.1 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Asia
At the start of the new week, the stock markets in East Asia and Australia are not showing a consistent trend. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.5 percent to 39,305 points on the first trading day after the public holiday break at the turn of the year. The expectation that the Bank of Japan will soon raise interest rates is said to be weighing on the index.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved modestly lower over the course of the session after seeing early strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.1 basis points to 4.596 percent after hitting a low of 4.539 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers Symrise target to EUR 133 (138) – Buy
HAIB raises Knorr-Bremse to Hold (Sell) – Target EUR 65 (63.60)
Berenberg raises SNP target to EUR 61 (56) – Hold

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