BNP Paribas said it has begun exclusive talks with Holmarcom Group to potentially sell its stake in Moroccan subsidiary BMCI. The French financial services group said Friday that it was in discussions to sell its 67% stake in BMCI to Holmarcom, which already is a shareholder in the Moroccan bank. The talks are in preliminary stages, and if the transaction moves forwards, further details will be disclosed, the company said. If completed in 2026, the divestment would have a 15 basis-point positive impact on BNP Paribas’ common equity Tier 1 ratio, it said.

The Swiss stock market suffered a late slump to wipe out early gains, stretching its losing streak to four sessions. The SMI has now given up almost 100 points or 0.8 percent in that span. The early support for the markets was largely fueled by banks on optimism over the outlook for interest rates moving forward into 2026 - although comments from Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee threw water on those hopes. The markets were also dragged lower near the end of the day by heavy selling among the technology stocks on concerns over valuations. For the day, the index dipped 17.69 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 12,887.48 after trading between 12,875.16 and 12,998.50. Among the actives, Adecco jumped 2.98 percent, while UBS climbed 2.51 percent, Compagnie Financiere Richemont tumbled 1.74 percent, Swisscom improved 1.46 percent, Swatch Group added 1.42 percent, Swiss Re expanded 0.89 percent, Swiss Life gained 0.67 percent, Novartis lost 0.45 percent, Roche Holding fell 0.35 percent and Zurich Insurance was up 0.07 percent.

Europe
The major European markets finished in the red on Friday, unable to hold early gains and slumping late in the trading day. The markets were also dragged lower near the end of the day by heavy selling among the technology stocks on concerns over valuations. Germany's DAX dropped 108.12 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 24,186.49, while London's FTSE sank 54.13 points or 0.56 percent to close at 9,649.03 and the CAC 40 in France slipped 17.14 points or 0.21 percent to end at 8,068.62. In Germany, Siemens Energy plunged 4.25 percent, while Deutsche Bank stumbled 3.13 percent, Heidelberg Materials declined 0.98 percent, Siemens Healthineers advanced 0.94 percent, Infineon Technologies sank 0.77 percent, RWE improved 0.74 percent, BASF added 0.63 percent, Deutsche Telekom lost 0.41 percent, Vonovia rose 0.33 percent and Deutsche Post dipped 0.04 percent. In London, Metlen Energy tanked 4.16 percent, while St. James Place retreated 3.59 percent, British American Tobacco tumbled 3.33 percent, Ashtead Group rallied 2.55 percent, Prudential slumped 1.33 percent, Auto Trader climbed 1.21 percent, Tesco skidded 1.17 percent, Airtel Africa dropped 0.97 percent, Haleon shed 0.86 percent, Shell fell 0.76 percent, Scottish Mortgage slid 0.70 percent, Centrica added 0.48 percent and Rolls-Royce dipped 0.32 percent. In France, Atos skyrocketed 9.97 percent, Worldline spiked 2.00 percent, Legrand retreated 1.63 percent, Schneider Electric surrendered 1.57 percent, Accor improved 1.30 percent, Societe Generale slumped 1.21 percent, Engie climbed 1.12 percent, Credit Agricole shed 0.95 percent, Veolia Environment lost 0.82 percent and BNP Paribas fell 0.74 percent. In economic news, the UK economy contracted for the second straight month in October, the Office for National Statistics reported Friday. Gross domestic product fell unexpectedly by 0.1 percent month-on-month in October, the same pace of drop as in September. On an annual basis, GDP was up 1.1 percent in October, which was weaker than forecast of 1.4 percent. Germany's consumer price inflation remained unchanged in November, as initially estimated, but EU harmonized inflation accelerated, Destatis said Friday. The consumer price index rose 2.3 percent year-on-year, the same as in October. The statistical office confirmed the estimate published on November 28.

United States
Following the mixed performance seen during Thursday's session, stocks showed a significant move to the downside during trading on Friday. The major averages all moved lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop. The major averages ended the day off their worst levels of the session but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq plunged 398.69 points or 1.7 percent to 23,195.17 and the S&P 500 tumbled 73.59 points or 1.1 percent to 6,827.41. For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. While the Dow jumped by 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 slid by 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq dove by 1.6 percent. The narrower Dow posted a more modest loss, falling 245.96 points or 0.5 percent to 48,458.05 after hitting a new record intraday high in early trading. The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came amid a sell-off by tech stocks, as reflected by the slump by the Nasdaq. Broadcom (AVGO) helped lead the tech sector lower, with the chipmaker plunging by more than 11 percent on the day. The steep drop by Broadcom came even though the company reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results and providing upbeat guidance for the current quarter. Tech stocks like Micron Technology (MU), Oracle (ORCL), Advance Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) also moved sharply lower, reflecting a continued rotation out of tech stocks. Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to comments by Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee explaining his decision to vote against cutting interest rates at last week's Fed meeting.

Asia
Asian and Australian stock markets were deep in the red on Monday, following the negative US trend. Global reservations about technology stocks are also noticeable in Asia, with falling prices. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell by 1.3 per cent to 50,603 points. According to Commerzbank, the main issue is risk aversion.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries saw a notable pullback after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 5.3 basis points to 4.194 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers Givaudan target to 3,310 (3,670) CHF – Neutral
HSBC raises Volvo Car target to 31 (28) SEK – Hold
Bank of America lowers Unilever target to 5,700 (6,075) GBp – Buy

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