Nestle said it quit a major alliance between the world's largest global food companies aimed at reducing methane emissions from dairy suppliers. A spokesperson from the Swiss maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food said Wednesday that Nestle decided to discontinue its participation in the Dairy Methane Action Alliance, following a review of its external organization memberships. "Nestle regularly reviews its memberships of external organizations," the spokesperson said. "We have decided to discontinue our membership of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance." The alliance is an international group that started at the 2023 United Nations climate conference, COP28, in Dubai. It was launched by nonprofit advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund to curb emissions in dairy supply chains, requiring companies to disclose methane emissions and form action plans. Nestle was a founding member, alongside other major food and beverage producers Kraft Heinz, Starbucks, Danone and General Mills, according to the group's website.

The Swiss market closed on a bright note on Wednesday, in line with markets across Europe amid slightly easing worries about tariffs, and expectations of more monetary easing by a few central banks. The benchmark SMI settled with a gain of 126.32 points or 1.01% at 12,648.11. Givaudan gained about 2.7%. The fragrance firm announced that it would invest CHF187 million ($233 million) in the construction of a new production plant near Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. Amrize climbed 3.29% and Richemont closed up by 3.06%. Sandoz Group, Swatch Group and Swiss Re gained 2.2%, 2% and 1.75%, respectively. ABB climbed higher after the Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation agreed to sell its global robotics division to SoftBank Group for $5.38 billion. Galderma Group, SGS, Novartis, Alcon, Straumann Holding, Lindt & Spruengli, Logitech International, UBS Group, Roche Holding, Sonova and Zurich Insurance also closed with strong gains. Sika drifted down 3.57%. VAT Group ended down by about 1.1%. Kuehne + Nagel and Partners Group closed marginally down.

Europe
European markets closed on a firm note on Wednesday, supported by gains in steel stocks after the European Union proposed to lower shipment quotas for tariff-free steel imports into the bloc, and hike tariffs on volumes that are above the proposed limits. The mood in most of the markets in the region remained positive despite political tensions in France, and data showing a sharp drop in German industrial output. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.79%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.69%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.87% and France's CAC 40 moved up 1.07%. Switzerland's SMI closed up by 1.01%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden closed higher. Russia and Turkiye ended weak, while Austria, Czech Republic and Netherlands closed flat. In the UK market, Antofagasta climbed about 3%. Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining, Rio Tinto and Anglo American Plc also closed on firm note. Lloyds Banking gained 3.7%. The bank announced that it is assessing the FCA's motor finance redress scheme. Standard Chartered, Natwest Group and HSBC Holdings climbed 1.5 to 2.6%. Haleon, IAG, Marks & Spencer, Burberry Group, BAE Systems, Entain and St. James's Place were among the other prominent gainers. ICG, Segro, Spirax Group, Croda International, LondonMetric Property, Metlen Energy & Metals, Land Securities, Auto Trader Group and Associated British Foods ended notably lower. In the German market, Zalando climbed more than 5%. Siemens Energy, Adidas, Rheinmetall, Fresenius and Deutsche Bank gained 2 to 3.4%. Allianz, Qiagen, RWE, Heidelberg Materials, Fresenius Medical Care and Siemens also posted strong gains. BMW tanked more than 8% after lowering its revenue forecast, citing U.S. tariffs and weaker-than-expected growth in the Chinese market.

United States
Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, reaching new record closing highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 255.02 points or 1.1 percent to 23,043.38, while the S&P 500 climbed 39.13 points or 0.6 percent to 6,753.72. The narrower Dow ended the day little changed, edging down 1.20 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 46,601.78. The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a notable advance by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leading surging by 2.2 percent to a record closing high. Nvidia moved high after CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' artificial intelligence computing demand has increased 'substantially' in the last six months. Meanwhile, traders continued to shrug off the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which has entered its eighth day today. Lawmakers in Washington continue to struggle to pass a temporary funding bill due in part to Democrats' demands that the legislation include an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits. Stocks saw continued strength even after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September revealed participants expressed a range of views about the likely future path of monetary policy. Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year, the Fed said, although some noted financial conditions warrant a cautious approach in the consideration of future policy changes. Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 4.3 percent to a record closing high.

Asia
Share prices rose significantly across most Asian markets on Thursday. The Nikkei is back on track for a record high, gaining 1.5 per cent to 48,436 points. Prices in Shanghai also rose significantly at the end of Golden Week, with the Shanghai Composite gaining 1.2 per cent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng showed little change.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled back near the unchanged line after seeing initial strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis point to 4.129 percent after hitting a low of 4.096 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers target for Remy Cointreau to EUR 53 (56) – Neutral
Berenberg lowers Glencore to Hold (Buy) – Target 350 p
Berenberg raises Anglo American to Buy (Hold) – Target 3,000 (2,300) p

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.