SoftBank Group agreed to buy DigitalBridge Group for $4 billion, including debt, part of the Japanese conglomerate’s strategy to take advantage of an AI-driven boom in digital infrastructure. Under the terms of the deal, SoftBank will purchase all of DigitalBridge’s outstanding shares for $16 apiece. The price represents a 15% premium to DigitalBridge’s closing share price Friday, and a 50% premium to its unaffected 52-week average closing price as of Dec. 4, the companies said. Shares of DigitalBridge jumped 9.8%, to $15.28, in premarket trading Monday. Through Friday’s close, the stock is up almost 25% over the past year. SoftBank said the buy will strengthen its ability to build, scale and finance the foundational infrastructure needed for next-generation AI services and applications, advancing its mission to become a leading artificial super intelligence provider. Bloomberg reported earlier Monday that the companies were nearing a deal.

After opening on a cautious note and then hovering near record high for a while, the Swiss market's benchmark SMI slipped into negative territory Monday morning and moved along the flat line till the end of the day's session. Also, investors were reluctant to make significant moves as the market will have just one more session this week. It will remain closed from Wednesday to Friday, and will re-open only on Monday, January 5, 2026. The SMI, which advanced to 13,283.13 a few minutes after the opening bell, ended the session at 13,240.59, down 2.21 points or 0.02% from Friday's close. Nestle gained about 1.2%. Swisscom and Sonova gained 0.88% and 0.78%, respectively. Sika and Lonza Group, both gained a little over 0.5%. Givaudan, Richemont, Lindt & Spruengli and Partners Group posted modest gains. Sandoz Group ended down 1.57% and Galderma Group closed 1.4% down. Julius Baer, UBS Group and Logitech International lost 0.8 to 1.1%. Roche Holding and Swiss Life Holding ended nearly 0.6% down from their previous closing levels.

Europe
European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday with investors mostly staying cautious amid a lack of data. Defense stocks were under pressure amid signs of a positive progress in Ukraine peace talks. The major indexs closed roughly flat. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.04%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 crept up 0.05% and 0.1%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.02% down, while the pan European Stoxx 600 settled 0.09% up. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Russia and Turkiye closed weak, while Austria, Ireland and Portugal ended flat. In the UK market, Land Securities and Convatec Group climbed 2.5% and 2.2%, respectively. Airtel Africa, British Land, Mondi, Segro, Entain, JD Sports Fashion and Experian gained 1 to 2%. Endeavour Mining fell 4%. Babcock International ended nearly 3% down, while St. James's Place, Pershing Square Holdings, British American Tobacco, Anglo American Plc., Intercontinental Hotels Group, BT Group and Halma lost 1 to 2%. In the German market, Adidas moved up nearly 2.5% and Continental gained 2.3%. Zalando, Bayer, BASF, Mercedes-Benz, Merck, Brenntag, Vonovia and Deutsche Telekom closed up by 1 to 1.5%. Deutsche Bank and Rheinmetall fell 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively. Commerzbank, Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines and Allianz also closed weak. In the French market, Publicis Groupe, Veolia Environment, Michelin, Orange, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, Engie, ArcelorMittal and Carrefour moved higher. Safran, Renault, Kering, AXA and Thales closed lower by 0.6 to 1.4%.

United States
Following the recent rally with record highs, profits were taken on Wall Street on Monday. Increased geopolitical tensions in particular encouraged profit-taking, especially as the market-wide S&P 500 had reached all-time highs over Christmas. On the corporate side, the news flow dries up at this time of year anyway, and no economic data was scheduled for Monday. The Dow Jones index fell 0.5 per cent to 48,462 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3 and 0.5 per cent respectively. On the NYSE, there were 1,036 (Tuesday: 1,137) gainers and 1,721 (1,629) losers, while 62 (59) stocks closed unchanged. The US stock markets are open on Tuesday and Wednesday, with only the bond market closing early in the middle of the week. Among technology stocks, some heavyweights came under pressure, with Tesla and Nvidia losing 3.3 and 1.2 per cent, respectively. AI heavyweight Nvidia had signed a billion-dollar licensing agreement with start-up Groq, which develops AI accelerator chips, bringing several of the company's top managers on board. In the defence sector, Lockheed Martin (+1.2%) and Northrop Grumman (+0.1%) gained on geopolitical tensions, but other defence stocks lost ground. Lockheed Martin received an extension to an existing contract from the US Air Force for the delivery of transport aircraft. This increased the cumulative total value from $15 billion to $25 billion. In response to falling precious metal prices, shares in mining operators Freeport-McMoRan and Southern Copper fell by 2.9 per cent each. The share price of Newmont, the world's largest gold mining operator, fell by 5.6 per cent.

Asia
In Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, the market barometers are all down slightly, with the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo falling to 50,473 points. The most activity is still in Hong Kong, where the previous day had seen a somewhat more significant decline. The HSI is recovering by 0.4 per cent. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX-200 ended trading with a minimal loss of 0.1 per cent.

Bonds
On the U.S. bond market, the recent decline in yields continued amid speculation that US key interest rates would fall further. The ten-year yield fell by just under 2 basis points to 4.11 per cent.

Analysis
Vontobel raises Galderma to CHF 172 (166) – Buy

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