The U.S. government is taking a 10% stake in Intel, a deal that caps a two-week frenzy for the troubled chip maker and marks the latest in a series of extraordinary private-sector interventions by President Trump. Under the terms of the agreement, $8.9 billion in grants that had been awarded to Intel from the 2022 Chips Act, but not yet paid, will be converted to equity, the two sides said Friday. The government could get more stock depending on what happens to Intel’s chip manufacturing business. The deal is a remarkable turnaround. Just over two weeks ago, Trump called for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to be fired for his ties to China. After meeting Tan and talking about the business last week, Trump became a fan and saw an opportunity to deepen their partnership, he said Friday. “I said, ‘I think you should pay us 10% of the company,’ and they said yes,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

The Swiss stock market ended the week on a positive note. At its high for the day, the SMI rose above the symbolic 12,300-point mark, ending slightly below this level, held back by its three heavyweights. The earnings season took a short break. The SMI ended with a gain of 0.19% at 12,264.85 points, with a high of 12,323.96 and a low of 12,221.57. The SLI advanced 0.56% to 2,025.88 points and the SPI gained 0.28% to 17,039.60 points. Of the 31 leading stocks, 23 rose and eight fell. Amrize (+3.2%) led Alcon (+3.0%) and Adecco (+2.8%) on the day's podium. Following the rebound in watch exports, luxury stocks Swatch Group (+2.6%) and Richemont (+1.7%) significantly outperformed the index. Also in demand, asset manager Partners Group (+2.5%) injected $65 million (CHF 52 million) into North Carolina-based 3D-printed orthopaedic implant designer Restor3d, acquiring an unspecified minority stake.

Europe
After showing a lack of direction early in the session, European stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major European markets all moved to the upside after closing mixed for two straight days. The French CAC 40 Index climbed by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.1 percent. The strength that emerged in the European markets came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly-anticipated speech before the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium generated optimism about the outlook for interest rates In regional economic releases, the German economy shrank more than initially estimated in the second quarter, the latest data from Destatis revealed. Gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent sequentially, reversing a 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter. In the flash estimate, the economy showed a contraction of 0.1 percent. Elsewhere, the confidence among French manufacturers held steady in August, as expected, monthly data from the statistical office INSEE revealed. The manufacturing sentiment index stood at 96.0 in August, the same as in July. In corporate news, Beauty retailer Revolution Beauty skyrocketed by 25.4 percent after successfully raising £15 million through a placing and subscription of new ordinary shares. Dulux paints maker AkzoNobel also surged by 6.8 percent after activist investor Cevian Capital took a 3 percent stake in the company, according to a filing by Dutch market regulator AFM. French train manufacturer Alstom also jumped by 2.2 percent on winning a £75 million eight-year maintenance contract with Great Western Railway.

United States
The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its first record close of the year Friday, rising more than 800 points after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door for the central bank to lower interest rates in September. Investors had bet on caution from the central bank chief, but Powell’s speech instead highlighted the vulnerability of the labor market and signaled that the Fed could shift its wait-and-see approach. Stocks and bonds rallied, the dollar fell and gold rose more than 1%. The swings ended days of relative calm in markets, where a lingering tech selloff had dragged on the Nasdaq Composite even as the Dow posted its longest stretch of muted moves in decades. The Dow industrials climbed 1.9%, or around 846 points, to their first all-time high in 176 trading sessions, snapping their longest streak without a record close since a run that ended in December 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 gained 1.5%, ending a five-day stretch of declines with its best day since late May. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%. Friday’s gains extended after investors got some good news on trade. Canada said it would remove its 25% tariff on about half of the U.S. goods it has targeted since March. Duties of 25% on U.S. steel, aluminum and automobiles will stay. Tech stocks also rebounded, clawing back some losses from earlier in the week. Palantir shares gained 1.6%, Broadcom shares rose 1.5% and Tesla shares added 6.2%. Friday’s advance helped the Dow industrials and S&P 500 to weekly gains, with the blue-chip index adding 1.5% for the week, while the S&P 500 eked out a 0.3% climb.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia started the new trading week with gains. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 reached a record high in early trading before profit-taking set in. Banks and mining stocks were in demand, with Macquarie Group gaining 3.4 per cent and BHP gaining 2.7 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. government bonds rallied, dragging down the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which falls when bond prices rise. The 10-year yield settled at 4.26% on Friday, according to Tradeweb, down from 4.33% on Thursday

Analysis
UBS lowers the target for CTS Eventim to EUR 115 (120) – Buy
Citi raises Hensoldt and Renk to Neutral (Sell)
Equita lowers Alcon target to CHF 70 (75) – Hold