Pfizer has agreed to buy the weight-loss drug startup Metsera in a deal that could be worth more than $10 billion, besting Novo Nordisk following a heated bidding war. Under the terms of the cash deal, Pfizer will pay $65.60 a share upfront and a contingent value right worth up to $20.65 a share, Metsera said. In September, Pfizer had agreed to buy Metsera for up to $7.3 billion. But Novo Nordisk then took the unusual step of trying to outflank Pfizer, setting off a bidding war. Pfizer said it expected to close the transaction after Metsera shareholders vote on the deal Thursday. “We look forward to quickly leveraging the scale of our global clinical, manufacturing and commercial infrastructure to accelerate Metsera’s portfolio and working to bring these important therapies to patients around the world,” Pfizer said. Novo Nordisk said it won’t increase its offer due to its commitment to financial discipline and shareholder value.

The Swiss market opened on a slightly positive note Friday morning, but slipped into the red soon thereafter and then stayed weak right through the day's session, amid concerns about valuations of AI related stocks, and worries about the outlook for near term economic growth. The benchmark SMI, which edged up to 12,330.34 in early trades, dropped to a low of 12,217.38 a little past noon, and finally ended the day's session at 12,298.35, down 0.51 points. Galderma Group ended nearly 3% down. Sandoz Group closed lower by 2.51% and Sonova ended almost 2% down. Logitech International, VAT Group and UBS Group settled lower by 1.4 to 1.5%. Richemont, Amrize, ABB and Swiss Life Insurance lost 0.8 to 1%. Swatch Group climbed 2.58%. Swisscom advanced nearly 2%, while Roche Holding and Givaudan ended higher by 1.21% and 1.18%, respectively, and Lindt & Spruengli gained nearly 1%. In economic news, survey results from the Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed confidence among Swiss consumers remained pessimistic in October. The consumer confidence index stood at -37.0 in October, the same as in September. Moreover, the consumer sentiment index remained well below the long-term average. In the corresponding month last year, the reading was also -37.0.

Europe
European markets closed weak on Friday, with most of the markets extending losses from the previous session, as lingering concerns about high valuations in AI-related stocks and uncertainty about the outlook for economic growth due to the US government shutdown. The pan European Stoxx 600 lost 0.55%. Germany's DAX closed down by 0.68%, France's CAC 40 ended down 0.18% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 settled 0.55% down, while Switzerland's SMI closed flat. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak. Czech Republic, Iceland and Russia ended higher. In the UK market, Rightmove plunged 12.5%. The stock plummeted 22% earlier in the day, falling to the lowest level in two years, after the company lowered its earnings guidance. Despite recovering some ground, the stock is down as much as 14%. IAG tanked 11.6% after it posted a drop in net profit and flat revenue in the third quarter, hit by weak demand for economy class seats on transatlantic flights. Auto Trader Group ended 6% down, and Metlen Energy & Metal closed 5.6% down. Relx, Experian, IMI, LSEG, Ashtead Group and Polar Capital Group ended lower by 2 to 4%. Shares of television company ITV soared nearly 17% after the group confirmed that it was in discussions with Comcast over a potential sale of its television business, in a deal worth £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion). Hikma Pharmaceuticals climbed nearly 4%. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, WPP, Diageo, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Smith & Nephew, Hiscox, Vodafone Group and Coca-Cola HBC gained 1 to 3.6%. In the German market, Zalando tumbled more than 8%. Scout24 closed lower by about 5%. Infineon Technologies, Siemens Energy, Siemens, Siemens Healthineers, Bayer and Fresenius Medical Care lost 1.4 to 3.2%.

United States
After initially extending the sharp pullback seen during Thursday's session, stocks showed a significant rebound over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching positive territory. The major averages ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq dipped 49.46 points or 0.2 percent to 23,004.54 after plunging by as much as 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 inched up 8.48 points or 0.1 percent to 6,278.80 and the Dow rose 74.80 points or 0.2 percent to 46,987.10. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted by 3.0, while the S&P 500 tumbled by 1.7 percent and the Dow slumped by 1.2 percent. Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading session, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 3.2 percent after plunging by as much as 3.0 percent. Significant strength also emerged among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came as the price of gold climbed back above the $4,000 an ounce level. Natural gas airline and commercial real state stocks also showed strong moves to the upside on the day, while weakness remained visible among networking and semiconductor stocks.

Asia
Asian and Australian stock markets recovered on Monday from the sometimes heavy losses at the end of last week. Technology stocks in particular are on the rise. Their gains are driving the Nikkei 225 (+1.2%) and the Kospi in Seoul (+3.4%) in particular.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled back near the unchanged line after initially extending yesterday's rally. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, closed unchanged at 4.093 percent after hitting a low of 4.066 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers BKW to Neutral (Buy) – Target 185 (190) CHF
HSBC raises DHL target to 45 (43) EUR – Hold
Morgan Stanley lowers Gea target to 60 (62) EUR – Equal weight

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