Meta Platforms had its best day since January yesterday. This was prompted by a report from Bloomberg stating that Facebook’s parent company intends to sell access to AI computing power and models. These are similar to the offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Until now, Meta had been rapidly acquiring expensive data centers and other infrastructure to fuel its own AI ambitions. Now, however, the group is establishing a business division designed to turn surplus computing power into hard cash – by selling it to external customers. Meta’s share price rose by around 9 per cent on Wednesday. The company was one of the best performers in the S&P 500.

After staying slightly below the flat line till a little past mid-morning, the European market drifted down and eventually ended moderately lower on Wednesday. The benchmark SMI, which dropped to a low of 14,068.50 ended the day at 14,114.00, losing 79.92 points or 0.56%. Galderma Group ended 2.75% down. The delay in getting the U.S. FDA's nod for the company's Relfydess neuromodulator weighed on the stock. Swisscom closed lower by 2.4%. Richemont and Sandoz Group settled lower by 2.06% and 1.91%, respectively. ABB, Alcon, Novartis and Roche ended down by 1.2%-1.6%. Helvetia Baloise Holding and Geberit drifted down 0.96% and 0.7%, respectively. Lonza Group closed 3.1% up. Partners Group, Kuehne + Nagel, Straumann Holding and Sonova gained 2%-2.3%. Logitech International, Sika, Lindt & Spruengli, Givaudan, Swiss Re and UBS Group closed up by 0.5%-1.5%. Data from the statistical office showed Swiss retail sales increased at the quickest pace in nearly a year in May. In real terms, retail sales climbed 3.5% yearly in May, faster than the revised 1.7% growth in April. The annual sales growth in non-food products improved to 4% from 2.3%, and that in food products quickened to 2.6% from 0.5%.

Europe
European stocks closed broadly lower on Wednesday with investors mostly staying cautious while watching the developments with regard to U.S.-Iran peace moves and focusing on speeches from prominent central bank officials at the Sintra Forum. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.38%. The UK's FTSE 100 drifted down 0.18% and France's CAC 40 closed 0.79% down, while Germany's DAX moved up 0.18%. Switzerland's SMI finished with a loss of 0.56%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak. Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Poland ended on firm note. Czech Republic edged up marginally. In the UK market, Associated British Foods closed 3.15% down. The Primark owner said it expects full-year adjusted operating profit and earnings per share to remain below last year's levels amid deepening losses in its sugar business. British American Tobacco and National Grid both ended lower by 3%. GSK, BP, Diageo, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Shell, SSE, BT Group, IAG, Severn Trent, Centrica, AstraZeneca, Howden Joinery Group, IMI and Entain also ended notably lower. Babcock International rallied 5.2%. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners climbed 4.85%. Aberdeen Group, Endeavour Mining, The Sage Group, Prudential, Sainsbury (J), Pearson and Computacenter moved up 3.2%-4.5%. Rentokil Initial, Autotrader Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Peshing Square Holdings, LSED, BAE Systems, Fresnillo, Natweat Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Reckitt Benckiser also moved up sharply.

United States
U.S. stocks were modestly lower Wednesday as investors parsed comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh for clues about the path of interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13.96 points, or 0.03%, to 52305.24. The S&P 500 slipped 16.13 points, or 0.22%, to 7483.23, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 173.69 points, or 0.66%, to 26040.03. According to preliminary data, there were 1555 advancing issues and 1203 declining issues on the NYSE. Warsh, speaking at a European Central Bank symposium in Portugal, declined to say whether the Fed would raise rates at its next meeting. He called upcoming deliberations a "good family fight." He said inflationary risks have eased since the Fed's last meeting, and suggested that artificial intelligence-driven productivity gains could have "huge implications for monetary policy." Alcoa fell 8.9% after the aluminum producer said it would pay up to $5.6 billion for bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets from Australia's South32. The deal comes as aluminum prices have dropped 18% from near-record highs reached when fighting in the Persian Gulf blocked the region's smelters from global markets. Getty Images and Shutterstock both fell after Getty said it plans to terminate a merger after a U.K. antitrust regulator said Shutterstock must sell its editorial business. Global equity fundraising topped $729.4 billion in the first half of 2026, boosted by SpaceX's record IPO, marking the second-best start to the year on record, according to Mergermarket data. Tech accounted for around $302 billion of that total.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia and Australia are once again showing mixed trends on Thursday. In Seoul, the Kospi is plunging by 5 percent. Sharp losses by chipmakers Samsung Electronics (-6.8%) and SK Hynix (-8.6%) are dragging the index down. In contrast, Hanwha Ocean in the defense sector is up 3.1 percent.

Bonds
Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds increased. The 10-year yield rose 0.054 percentage point to 4.474%. The euro was last seen at $1.14. Gold gained 1.13% to $4068.30 per troy ounce.

Analysis
UBS lowers its BKW target price to 145 (160) CHF – Neutral
UBS upgrades Tecan to Buy (Neutral) – Target price 208 (162) CHF
Bank of America upgrades Air Liquide to Buy (Underperform) – Target price 200 (159) EUR

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