BHP Group named Brandon Craig as its next chief executive officer, opting for his experience in advancing the company’s growth projects in the U.S., Canada and South America as the world’s biggest miner expands in copper and the fertilizer ingredient potash. Craig, a veteran BHP executive who has run the miner’s Americas operations since March 2024, will become CEO and a director of BHP on July 1. He succeeds Mike Henry, who has led the company for more than six years. The appointment was welcomed by investors and analysts, who view Craig as a strong choice to develop a pipeline of growth options assembled by his predecessor, many of which he has had a hand in shaping. “This suggests BHP is comfortable with the path charted by Mike Henry and is looking for a successor who can continue to implement on that vision,” said Angus Gluskie, managing director of Whitefield, a BHP shareholder.

The Swiss stock market closed higher on Tuesday evening, following the lead of its European counterparts and despite the renewed rise in oil prices. Investors shrugged off current geopolitical tensions ahead of monetary policy decisions in the US and Europe. On the Swiss stock market, the SMI ended the session up 0.62% at 12,962.41 points, with a high of 13,003.10 and a low of 12,837.19. The SLI rose by 0.77% to 2,056.19 points and the SPI gained 0.58% to 18,041.64 points. Of the 30 blue-chip stocks, twenty-three rose, six fell and one ended unchanged (Galderma). Swiss Re (+3.1%) topped the day’s gains. The reinsurer has signed a $2 billion longevity risk hedging contract with US-based Athene, which specialises in financial services for pensioners. It was followed by Helvetia (+2.8%) and VAT Group (+1.9%). UBS (+1.5%) extended its gains. The chief financial officer of Switzerland’s leading bank, Todd Tuckner, announced that the migration of Credit Suisse would be completed in the coming days and assured that exposure to the conflict in Iran was limited in terms of private credit.

Europe
European stock markets extended their rally on Tuesday, unfazed by rising oil prices ahead of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose by 0.7% to 602.45 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 rose by 0.5%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 rose by 0.7% and the FTSE 100 climbed by 0.8% in London. On Tuesday morning, investors took note of a fall in Germany’s ZEW leading economic indicator in March due to the war in the Middle East. It fell into negative territory, to -0.5 from 58.3 in February. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected a more moderate decline in the index, to 38.5 in March. SARTORIUS STEDIM BIOTECH (+8.9%): the pharmaceutical industry supplier unveiled new financial targets for the coming years on Tuesday, ahead of an investor day. Sartorius Stedim Biotech plans, in particular, to increase its turnover by 9% to 12% per year at constant exchange rates from the 2027 financial year onwards. KERING (-0.8%): the luxury group announced on Monday evening that it had created a new jewellery division, Kering Jewelry, and that Jean-Marc Duplaix had been appointed managing director with immediate effect. BNP PARIBAS (+1.2%): The banking group announced on Tuesday that it plans to double the pre-tax profit of its asset management platform, BNP Paribas Asset Management, by 2030, bringing it to €1.64 billion.

United States
Following the recovery rally seen in the previous session, stocks showed another strong move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday but gave back ground over the course of the day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but managed to close in positive territory. The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Monday, climbing further off Friday's three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq climbed 105.35 points or 0.5 percent to 22,479.53, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,716.09 and the Dow inched up 46.85 points or 0.1 percent to 46,993.26. The early strength on Wall Street came as traders attempted to shrug off the recent volatility shown by the price of crude oil, which has been a key driver of trading in recent sessions. Stocks extended the significant rebound seen in the previous session even as the price of crude oil recovered from yesterday's pullback. Crude oil for April delivery has pulled back well off its highs but remains up by nearly 3 percent after plunging by more than 5 percent during Monday's trading. Oil service stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of crude oil, resulting in a 3 percent surge by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The strength in the sector came after several airlines raised their revenue guidance for the first quarter. Computer hardware, oil producer and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while pharmaceutical stocks have shown a notable move to the downside. Eli Lilly (LLY) helped lead the pharmaceutical sector lower, tumbling by 5.9 percent after HSBC Securities downgraded its rating on the drug maker's stock to Reduce from Hold.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia are showing a very mixed picture on Wednesday. Whilst Japan and South Korea are seeing their leading indices rise sharply, and Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are also posting significant gains, Chinese stock markets are showing mixed results with small fluctuations. Trading has already closed in Sydney, Australia, where the market followed Wall Street’s lead with a moderate gain of 0.3 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended the significant rebound seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.8 basis points to 4.202 percent.

Analysis
Berenberg downgrades Lindt & Sprüngli to CHF 102,520 (108,770) – Sell
Equita upgrades Eni to EUR 24 (20) – Buy
Berenberg downgrades Hypoport to EUR 190 (200) – Buy

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