Berkshire Hathaway added to its stakes in Google’s parent and America’s home-building industry during the second quarter, while selling off its position in Constellation Brands. The Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate continued to double down on home builders after completing a $6.8 billion purchase of Taylor Morrison in July. Berkshire opened a position in D.R. Horton, which it previously owned before shedding its holding completely last year, while adding to its stake in Lennar. Berkshire also bulked up its position in Macy’s and the New York Times. The conglomerate pared its stakes in financial companies, including Bank of America, Capital One and Ally Financial. Berkshire also sold shares of steel manufacturer Nucor, Kroger and kidney-care company DaVita.

Save for a very brief while at the start, the Swiss market languished in negative territory on Friday, due largely to profit taking at several counters amid a lack of fresh triggers. The benchmark SMI, which edged up to 14,501.16 in early trades, fell to a low of 14,342.33 before settling at 14,390.67, losing 84.46 points or 0.58%. Galderma Group ended down 3.1%. Roche, Lonza Group and Richemont shed about 2%, 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Novartis, VAT Group, Sandoz Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Logitech International, ABB and Schindler Ps lost 0.4%-1.05%. Alcon climbed a little over 2%. Julius Baer, Swiss Re, Sonova, Swisscom, Kuehne + Nagel, Helvetia Baloise Holding and Zurich Insurance gained 0.5%-1.2%. In economic news, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Switzerland's economy expanded by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June 2026, accelerating sharply from 0.4% growth in the previous period, according to flash estimates. The reading marked the strongest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2021.

Europe
European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday as worries about Middle East conflict and uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz continued to weigh on sentiment, even as concerns about Fed interest rates eased thanks to tame U.S. inflation data. Investors digested the latest batch of regional economic data and continued to react to corporate earnings updates. The pan European Stoxx 600 shed 0.21%. France's CAC 40 and the UK's FTSE 100 closed down by 0.16% and 0.21%, respectively. Germany's DAX outperformed, gaining 0.53%. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.58%. Among other markets in Europe, Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, Poland and Türkiye closed higher. Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and Sweden ended weak, whie Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Portugal and Spain settled flat. In the UK market, the Sage Group climbed 4.5%. Experian, AutoTrader Group, IG Group Holdings and Entain gained 2%-3%. Aviva gained nearly 2% after the insurer's first half results beat estimates. The company said it remained on track to meet its three-year group targets. Legal & General, Pershing Square Holdings, BT Group, Computacenter, Relx, Metlen Energy & Metals, Vodafone Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Babcock International also closed notably higher. Miners fell sharply. Antofagasta ended 4.5% down Glencore, Anglo American Plc and Rio Tinto shed 2.1%, 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively. Pharma stocks AstraZeneca and GSK both closed lower by 2.1%. Specialty vaccine maker Valneva soared 20% after the European Medicines Agency validated the marketing application for its Lyme disease vaccine candidate.

United States
U.S. stocks fell after weak retail sales data tempered enthusiasm about the artificial-intelligence boom that has driven major indexes to record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 107.58 points or 0.20%, to 53732.41, closing within 1.1% of its all-time high. The S&P 500 declined 13.23 points, or 0.17%, to 7785.76 from Thursday's record. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 73.86 points, or 0.28%, to 26729.16, snapping a three-session winning streak. Retailers' sales fell by 0.6% last month to $763.6 billion, contrary to economists' expectations of a small increase. The S&P 500 closed at a record high Thursday as investors bet that a combination of moderating inflation and an AI boom would lead to lasting growth in the U.S. economy. But the weak retail data was a reminder that U.S. growth is still largely a function of consumer behavior. An up-tick in oil futures, meanwhile, showed how inflation could persist even if the U.S. economy starts slowing. Britain's BP and the United Arab Emirates' XRG will explore a gas field off the shore of Venezuela, in an indication that oil majors are tentatively returning to the country under its new regime. For companies caught up in the AI boom, expectations remained sky high. Shares of Applied Materials fell 5.1% to $507.18 even after the maker of semiconductor capital equipment posted fiscal third-quarter earnings growth. China's DeepSeek, which caused a splash with its affordable AI models, said it was raising prices for its flagship V4 models as competition intensifies and computing costs rise. Online forum Reddit will replace luxury-apartment developer AvalonBay Communities in the S&P 500 index before the opening of trading on Tuesday, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, which oversees the index. Reddit soared 13% to $178.09.

Asia
Asian stock markets are showing mixed trends as trading progresses on Monday. Markets in South Korea are closed for a public holiday. In Tokyo, economic growth in the second quarter of the year, which came in well below expectations, is weighing on the market. On the Chinese stock markets, however, shares are rising ahead of economic data that was actually due to be released overnight.

Bonds
Inflation concerns drove up U.S. Treasurys with yields on the 10-year note up 0.056 percentage point to 4.695%. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury rose 0.031 percentage point to 4.170%.

Analysis
Bank of America raises its RWE target to EUR 73 (72) – Buy
UBS lowers its Hellofresh target to EUR 3.60 (4.70) – Neutral
UBS raises its Adyen target to EUR 1,400 (1,350) – Buy


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