Micron MU Technology profit and revenue surged in the fiscal fourth quarter, as the company said the shortage of memory chips that has propelled its explosive growth in the past year shows no signs of slowing down. “Industry demand has strengthened since our last earnings call, and we expect memory and storage supply demand conditions to be much tighter in fiscal 2027 and 2028 than they were in 2026,” Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said on a Wednesday call with analysts. Mehrotra’s comments come as investors have debated the durability of the memory shortage that has fueled Micron’s blowout earnings. In June, he told analysts that the memory crunch would last past 2027, but struck somewhat of a softer tone than he did on Wednesday. Micron has been working to boost its production capacity for memory, and Mehrotra said several fabs are on track to start production over the next two years. Still, the magnitude of the supply imbalance, especially for a type of memory called DRAM, means that Micron will need to increase its capital expenditures in the new fiscal year, he said.

After opening on a positive note Wednesday morning, the Swiss market pared gains and moved along the flat line till a little past mid-afternoon before losing further ground as the mood turned quite cautious amid concerns about inflation and growth as oil prices climbed higher. Data showing a sharp drop in Swiss investor sentiment in the month of September weighed as well. The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 13,973.25 in early trades, ended the day with a loss of 81.85 points or 0.59% at 13,830.34, the day's low. Julius Baer ended down 3.2%. Holcim and Kuehne + Nagel ended 2.4% down from their previous closing levels. Swiss Life Holding, ABB, Sandoz Group, Lonza Group, Swiss Re, Helvetia Baloise Holding and Schindler Ps settled lower by 1.3%-1.7%. Zurich Insurance, Geberit, Givaudan, Novartis, Alcon, Sika, UBS Group and Straumann Holding also closed weak. Partners Group and Richemont both ended higher by nearly 1.5%. SGS moved up by a little over 1%. Logitech International climbed 0.7%, while Amrize and Lindt & Spruengli posted modest gains. Swiss investor sentiment weakened sharply in September, with the UBS-CFA Society Switzerland indicator falling 9.5 points to 2.6, its lowest level in three months.

Europe
European stocks fell on Wednesday, hurt by higher bond yields and rising oil prices amid lingering uncertainty about Iran and the U.S. reaching a deal to end their conflict and pave the way for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Some weak economic data from the region – UK GDP report being an exception – weighed as well on sentiment. Investors also noted U.S. GDP and consumer prices data that turned out to be a mixed batch. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.5%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended 0.29% down. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed down by 0.79% and 0.89%, respectively. DAX shed 4% in September, while CAC 40 fell 5.2% and the FTSE 100 shed 2% in the month. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak today. Greece, Poland and Russia ended higher, while Norway and Portugal closed flat. In the UK market, Airtel Africa dropped about 3.3%. Barratt Redrow, BT Group, Hiscox, Prudential, Standard Chartered, Rolls-Royce Holdings, GSK, Diploma, M&G, Aviva, Babcock International, AstraZeneca and 3i Group lost 1%-2.5%. Antofagasta moved up 3.2%. SSE, Reckitt Benckiser, National Grid, Games Workshop, Croda International, Kingfisher, Anglo American Plc, Computacenter, JD Sports Fashion, Investec, British Land, Next, Land Securities, Marks & Spencer and Autotrader Group gained 1%-2.3%.

United States
U.S. stocks ended modestly lower, while a flurry of economic data eased concerns about imminent rate hikes and sent tech stocks higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 63.52 points, or 0.24% to 26861.06, unwinding declines from earlier in the week. The S&P 500 meanwhile fell 19.3 points, or 0.25%, to 7651.54 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 443.87 points, or 0.86%, to 50906.05. The Commerce Department boosted its reading for U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter to 2.2% from a prior estimate of 1.5%, citing stronger consumer-spending and investment levels. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had been expecting the final reading to hold at 1.5%. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both finished September lower. The S&P 500 rose 2% for the quarter, while the Dow Industrials fell 2.7%. The Nasdaq is up 1.9% on the month and 2.5% for the quarter. United Therapeutics picked up a win in its patent lawsuit against rival Liquidia when a federal judge ruled that two of United Therapeutics' claims were valid and infringed upon. Shares climbed 13% to $541.89, its biggest single-day gain in over a year. Liquidia shares, meanwhile, tumbled 57% to $30.26. Shares of MongoDB rose 3.4% to $348.61, recovering from two days of declines driven by its CEO's departure to lead a new division of Meta Platforms. Food maker Conagra Brands increased its outlook for inflation this year, blaming rising logistics and fuel costs. Shares fell 4.9% to $13.44.

Asia
Asian stock markets are mostly up on Thursday. In Tokyo, the broad-based Topix index is up 0.3 per cent, whilst the more technology-heavy Nikkei 225 has jumped by 2.7 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. treasury yields continued their recent climb, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rising 0.036 percentage point to 5.292%, its highest close May 2002. The 30-year Treasury yield rose 0.045 percentage point to 5.638%, its highest level since June 2002. The two-year slid 0.002 percentage point to 4.885%, marking its second day of light declines.

Analysis
UBS raises Skan Group to CHF 77 (65) – Buy
UBS lowers Lindt & Sprüngli to CHF 120,000 (125,000) – Buy
JPMorgan reinstates coverage on Euronext with a Neutral rating – Target price EUR 171


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