TotalEnergies is shutting down production in several countries as fighting continues in the Middle East. The French energy company said Friday production has stopped or is in the process of shutting down in Qatar, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates offshore, representing about 15% of the company’s total output. TotalEnergies said the conflict hasn’t affected its onshore production in the UAE. TotalEnergies said its cash flow from operations from barrels in the Middle East are lower than its portfolio average due to higher taxation. As a result, while the production cuts affect 15% of its volumes, they account for only 10% of upstream cash flow, the company said. The company said it expects growth from its accretive barrels to come overwhelmingly from outside the Middle East this year, meaning that higher oil prices would more than offset its production shutdown in the region.

After opening modestly down and staying weak till a little before noon on Friday, the Switzerland market moved up the flat line and remained somewhat steady for much of the afternoon but drifted down a bit in the final hour to end the day's session roughly flat. The benchmark SMI settled at 12,839.27, down 2.89 points or 0.02%. The index, which dropped to 12,705.94 early on in the session, advanced to 12,945.21 around mid afternoon but failed to hold gains. Amrize, Richemont, VAT Group, Sika, Julius Baer and Galderma Group lost 2.1%-2.5%. ABB and Straumann Holding both ended lower by about 1.9%. Alcon, Geberit and SGS lost 1%-1.25%. UBS Group and Lonza Group closed moderately lower. Novartis gained nearly 0.5%. The drugmaker announced today that Cosentyx received US Food and Drug Administration approval for treating pediatric patients 12 years and older with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa. Nestle climbed about 1.1% and Swisscom gained nearly 1%. Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding, Lindt & Spruengli, Zurich Insurance, Helvetia Baloise Holding, Partners Group and Sandoz Group advanced 0.5%-0.8%.

Europe
European markets closed lower on Friday, extending losses to a third straight session, as investors stayed reluctant to engage in any significant buying due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and rising concerns about inflation and possible monetary tightening by central banks. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.50%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.43%, Germany's DAX lost 0.6% and France's CAC closed 0.91% down. Switzerland's SMI settled flat. The FTSE, DAX and CAC 40 all posted marginal losses for the week. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak. Norway ended modestly higher. Greece and Netherlands edged up marginally, while Denmark and Portugal ended flat. In the UK market, miners Fresnillo and Antofagasta lost 6.2% and 5.5%, respectively. Anglo American Plc., Endeavour Mining, Rio Tinto and Glencore lost 2.4%-4.4%. Bank stocks Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, HSBC Holdings and Barclays ended notably lower. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Spirax Group, Weir Group, Intertek, Melrose Industries, Croda International, Easyjet, IAG, Halma and Segro were among the other major losers. Metlen Energy & Metals, Tesco, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Imperial Brands, RightMove, Bunzl, M&G, Diageo, Admiral Group and Legal & General gained 2%-3.5%. In the German market, Siemens Energy tumbled more than 6%. Volkswagen, Siemens, MTU Aero Engines, Gea Group, Comerzbank, Gea Group, Daimler Truck Holding, Adidas, Bayer, Deutsche Post, Merck and Infineon lost 1%-3.2%. Zalando surged nearly 8%, rising sharply for a second straight session. Rheinmetall gained nearly 3%, while RWE, E.ON, Qiagen, Deutsche Telekom, Allianz, Symrise and Hannover Rueck gained 1%-2.5%. In the French market, Stellantis, ArcelorMittal and LVMH lost 4%-4.4%. Kering, EssilorLuxottica, Accor, Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Airbus, Renault, L'Oreal, Hermes International, Safran, Credit Agricole and Edenred ended lower by 1%-3%. TotalEnergies climbed more than 2.5%. Danone, Orange, Publicis Groupe, Dassault Systemes and Engie also ended notably higher.

United States
Following the sell-off seen during Thursday's session, stocks rebounded in early trading on Friday but showed a notable move back to the downside as the day progressed. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and into negative territory. The major averages added to the steep losses posted in the previous session, falling to new three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq slid 206.62 points or 0.9 percent to 22,105.36, the S&P 500 fell 10.43 points or 0.6 percent to 6,632.19 and the Dow dipped 119.38 points or 0.3 percent to 46,558.47. For the week, the Dow plunged by 2.0 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled by 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq slumped by 1.3 percent. The pullback seen over the course of the session came as trading continued to be largely driven by reaction to crude oil prices. The Commerce Department said the annual rate of growth by its PCE price index slipped to 2.8 percent in January from 2.9 percent in December. The annual rate of growth was expected to remain unchanged. Gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 5.2 percent to its lowest closing level in over a month. Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Airline and software stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while utilities and natural gas stocks moved to the upside.

Asia
Asian stock markets are showing mixed performance on Monday. Persistently high oil prices are weighing on the markets against the backdrop of ongoing mutual attacks in the Middle East conflict. At the start of the week, oil prices have risen by around 1.5 per cent, with Brent crude trading at nearly $105. In Tokyo, the Topix 500 index has fallen by 0.7 per cent, whilst in Sydney, where trading has already closed, the market barometer dropped by 0.4 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved modestly lower over the course of the session after seeing early strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 1.2 basis points to 4.285 percent after hitting a low of 4.236 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America raises price targets in the oil sector
Berenberg lowers Geberit target to CHF 650 (673) – Buy
JPMorgan raises Fresenius target to EUR 56.60 (53.60) – Overweight

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.