BP said it is selling a 65% stake in its Castrol lubricants business for $8 billion, as part of a plan to simplify the business following a review that started under former Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss. The oil major said that it was selling the shareholding to investment firm Stonepeak and that the two companies would form a joint venture in which it will own 35%. BP has an option to sell its stake in the joint venture after a two-year lockup period. BP said the deal has an enterprise value of $10.1 billion, which includes $1.8 billion in joint-venture minority interests and $0.3 billion of debt. It said a major part of Castrol joint-venture minority interests relate to BP's shareholding in Castrol India. The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that a deal to sell the shareholding was close, citing people familiar with the matter. BP launched a review of the business in February to simplify the business, cut costs and boost shareholder returns. It is targeting asset sales of $20 billion by 2027 to help cut debt and boost oil-and-gas production.

SMI hit a new record high on last Tuesday with stocks staying firm after recovering from a slightly cautious start. The index rose to a high of 13,288.66 before settling at 13,242.80, gaining 79.14 points or 0.6%. Roche Holding climbed about 1.4%. Novartis and Richemont gained about 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Swiss Life Holding, Swiss Re, Sandoz Group, Holcim, ABB, Zurich Insurance and UBS Group closed higher by 0.4 to 0.7%. Straumann Holding ended down by 1.02%. Alcon, Lindt & Spruengli, Sonova, Geberit and Sika lost 0.4 to 0.7%.

Europe
European markets ended Wednesday's shortened trading session on a flat note. However, with several markets to remain closed on Thursday and Friday for Christmas and Boxing Day holidays, trading volumes were quite thin, and movements somewhat lackluster. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.01%. U.K.'s FTSE 100 crept up 0.03% and France's CAC 40 settled flat. The markets in Germany and Switzerland remained shut. In the French market, Kering climbed 1.1%. Eurofins Scientific, LVMH, Hermes International, ArcelorMittal, Carrefour and L'Oreal gained 0.3 to 0.9%. Edenred drifted down 1.3%. Dassault Systemes, TotalEnergies, Accor, Safran, Engie and Sanofi lost 0.3 to 0.45%. In the UK market, Schroders climbed 1.8% Pershing Square Holdings, Persimmon, Melrose Industries, Metlen Energy & Metals, Entain, F&C Investment Trust and Anglo American gained 0.6 to 1.1%. Games Workshop and Fresnillo both ended lower by about 1.4%. Rolls-Royce Holdings ended nearly 1% down. Admiral Group, Burberry Group, The Sage Group, Auto Trader Group and IAG closed weak by 0.6 to 1%. Lloyds Banking Group shed 0.4% on huge volumes. The counter clocked a volume over 24.3 million shares today.

United States
After trending higher over the past several sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing slightly lower. The S&P 500 reached a new record intraday high in early trading before closing down 2.11 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 6,929.94. The Dow also edged down 20.19 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 48,710.97, while the Nasdaq slipped 20.21 points or 0.1 percent to 23,593.10. Despite the choppy trading on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week. While the S&P 500 shot up by 1.4 percent, the Dow and the Nasdaq both jumped by 1.2 percent. The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, leading to below average trading activity. Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record closing highs. Looking ahead, overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued next week due to the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday. Reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales may still attract attention along with the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting. Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day. Gold stocks saw significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbing by 1.4 percent to a new record closing high as the price of the precious metal also jumped to new highs. Steel stocks also saw some strength on the day, while airline and telecom stocks showed moderate moves to the downside.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia are mixed on Monday after little activity over the holidays, with indices rising slightly across the board. Some markets, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, traded fully or partially over the Christmas holidays.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early upward move, closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, closed unchanged at 4.136 percent.

Analysis
Equita lowers Pirelli by 2% to EUR 6.50 – Hold

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