The building materials group Holcim met sales expectations in the first quarter. Despite unfavourable weather conditions in North America, Holcim achieved sales of 5.54 (previous year: 5.58) billion Swiss francs. Analysts had expected sales in the same range. Recurring EBIT climbed by 1.7 per cent in local currency to CHF 515 million. The Group has confirmed its forecast for the year. Holcim believes that the spin-off of Amrize remains on track and expects a stock market listing in June 2025. According to Holcim, Latin America once again achieved profitable growth in the first quarter. Sales figures improved across the board, with sales increasing by 8 percent in local currency. Europe once again recorded a disproportionately high increase in recurring EBIT and another improvement in the recurring EBIT margin. The latter increased by 60 basis points compared to the same period of the previous year. In the Asia, Middle East and Africa region, Holcim continued to generate a double-digit increase in recurring EBIT in local currency, with North Africa making a particularly strong contribution. According to Holcim, this positive trend is expected to continue thanks to high demand in North Africa, the positive outlook in Australia and the price recovery in China.

The Swiss stock market rose again on Thursday. The SMI increased by 0.9 per cent to 11,918 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 18 price gainers and 2 price losers. A total of 21.84 million shares were traded (Wednesday: 27.99 million). The day's winners were Sonova (+2.9%) ahead of Sika (+2.1%) and Logitech (+2.1%). At the bottom of the SMI were Alcon (-0.4%) and Swiss Re (-0.2%). Among the individual stocks, the focus was on heavyweight Nestlé. The share price lagged behind the broad market with a minimal gain after the food giant opened its books for the first quarter. The pharmaceutical group Roche also presented sales figures. It grew by 6 per cent in the first three months, and Roche also confirmed its outlook for the year. For the current year, the company continues to expect an increase in Group sales in the mid single-digit percentage range. Core earnings per share are forecast to expand by a high single-digit percentage and the dividend is to be hiked again. Roche shares advanced by 1.6 per cent. Logistics company Kuehne + Nagel increased its net profit above market expectations and earned CHF 291 million, compared with CHF 273 million a year ago. Turnover rose by 15 per cent to 6.33 billion. Analysts had predicted 275 million or 5.89 billion francs. The share price added 2.1 per cent.

Europe
Despite some early losses amid uncertainty about U.S. tariffs, European stocks staged a recovery and ended modestly higher on Thursday as investors focused on quarterly earnings and indulged in selective buying. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.36%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.05%, Germany's DAX closed 0.47% higher, and France's CAC 40 ended 0.27% up. In the UK market, Weir Group, Ashtead, Anglo American and Fresnillo gained 2.3 to 4.6%. Legal & General dropped nearly 6%. In the German market, Infineon rallied more than 7%. Adidas gained nearly 3% after delivering better-than-expected sales and profit for the first quarter. The sportswear maker reported that its preliminary operating profit for the first quarter of 2025 climbed to 610 million euros from last year's 336 million euros. The company's gross margin improved to 52.1% compared to 51.2% last year. The year-over-year increase of the gross margin for the adidas brand was even stronger at 1.6 percentage points. Quarterly revenues grew to 6.153 billion euros from 5.458 billion euros in the prior year. In currency-neutral terms, sales increased 13%. In the French market, STMicroElectronics climbed about 6%. Renault rallied 4.4% after reaffirming its FY25 outlook. In the first-quarter, group revenues were 11.675 billion euros, down 0.3% from 11.707 billion euros last year. However, revenues grew 0.6% at constant exchange rates. Dassault Systemes closed down more than 5%. Thales ended lower by about 3.7%. BNP Paribas ended more than 2% down. The bank reported pre-tax income of 4.240 billion euros for the first quarter, 2.8% lower than 4.363 billion euros in the same quarter a year ago. Operating income was 3.922 billion euros, 0.3% up from 3.901 billion euros last year, while non-operating items declined to 318 million euros from 462 million euros. Net income, group share decreased 4.9% to 2.951 billion euros from 3.103 billion euros a year ago, while revenue for the quarter grew 3.8% to 12.960 billion euros from 12.483 billion euros in the previous year.

United States
After a subdued start, the rally on Wall Street continued for the third day in a row on Thursday. The narrow Dow Jones index advanced by 1.2 per cent to 40,093 points. It was held back slightly by heavy losses in IBM and Procter & Gamble. The broader S&P 500 gained 2.0 per cent. It has thus risen by a good 7.7 per cent since the daily low on Easter Monday. The Nasdaq indices, in which technology stocks are more heavily weighted, climbed by up to 2.8 per cent. The weakest Dow stock was IBM with a drop of 6.6 per cent. The first-quarter figures from ‘Big Blue’ contained light and shade. Although earnings and sales exceeded market expectations, IBM warned that macroeconomic uncertainty is causing companies to rethink their spending. In addition, the sales forecast for the second quarter points to a year-on-year decline. Procter & Gamble lost 3.7 per cent. The consumer goods manufacturer lowered its outlook for the year as a whole following a decline in sales in the third quarter. Texas Instruments, on the other hand, increased by 6.6 per cent. The semiconductor company surprised with a sales outlook that exceeded market expectations. The quarterly figures were also better than expected. Nvidia surged by 3.6 per cent and AMD by 4.5 per cent. Intel jumped 4.4 per cent immediately before the announcement of quarterly figures after the closing bell. Pepsico was also hit by uncertainties over US customs policy, with its share price slipping by 4.9 per cent. ServiceNow soared by 15.5 per cent. The software company reported higher-than-expected profits and is forecasting higher-than-expected revenues for the second quarter. Southwest Airlines jumped 3.7 per cent. The airline had reported a net loss, but it was smaller than feared. Springworks Therapeutics rallied a good 9 per cent to $44.97. According to people familiar with the matter, the German Merck KGaA is close to finalising a takeover of the US biopharmaceutical company worth around 3.5 billion dollars.

Asia
In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 rose by 2.1 per cent to 35,782 points - also fuelled by a weakening yen. Export-heavy electronics stocks lead the table in the face of the yen's weakness. Nidec shot up by 12 per cent after the company forecast a 19 per cent increase in profits for the financial year. The Chinese stock markets are once again divided: In Hong Kong, where international investors are increasingly active, the de-escalation in the trade dispute is being played out. The HSI climbed by 1.4 per cent. There is little sign of this on the Chinese mainland, with the Shanghai Composite up a meagre 0.1 per cent. Hopes of a swift agreement in the tariff dispute with the USA drove the South Korean Kospi up by 1.2 per cent. Shares from the semiconductor and shipbuilding sectors are ahead. Shares in the memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix increased by 2.4 per cent, while shares in the shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries surged by 7.3 per cent.

Bonds
Long-dated U.S. government debt yields slipped on Thursday. The 10-year Treasury note yield eased by 7 basis points (0.07 percentage points) to 4.32%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, being more closely linked to Fed policy, slipped by 8 basis points to 3.8%.

Analysis
Price target Julius Baer: Goldman Sachs downgrades to CHF 61 (66) - Buy
Rating Baloise: Berenberg raises to Buy (Hold) - Target CHF 226.40 (172.50)
Target price Givaudan: Barclays cuts to CHF 3750 (3800) - Underweight