Mitsubishi Corp. has agreed to acquire Aethon's shale gas assets in Texas and Louisiana for $5.2 billion, its biggest acquisition ever. The Japanese trading house said Friday that Aethon's natural gas is currently sold in the southern U.S. market and that the company is considering exporting part of the production as liquefied natural gas to Asia, including Japan, and Europe. The deal comes as President Trump has sought to shore up the U.S. manufacturing base and increase energy exports. Mitsubishi said the investment would strengthen its natural gas business, and also accelerate efforts to build a value chain in the U.S. ranging from upstream gas development to power generation, data-center development, chemicals production and other related businesses. The Japanese company said Aethon's shale gas assets produce about 2.1 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas, equivalent to about 15 million tons of LNG each year. Mitsubishi said it would buy equity interests in Aethon from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, RedBird Capital Partners and Aethon Energy Management.

The Swiss stock market ended trading on Thursday on a positive note. The SMI gained 0.1 percent to 13,476 points. Shares in Partners Group (+7.7%) were by far the biggest winners on the SMI. On Wednesday after the close of trading, the asset manager reported a sharp rise in assets under management and expressed optimism for 2026. Richemont's figures for the luxury goods group's third fiscal quarter were surprisingly good. Nevertheless, the share price dropped by 2.4 percent, which market participants attributed to profit-taking. Richemont also expressed concern that rising material costs could squeeze margins. Geberit's fourth-quarter figures (-4.1%) were described as solid. However, the outlook did not seem to convince investors. Kühne + Nagel shed 0.9 percent. Traders pointed to the Danish shipping company Moeller-Maersk. In the US, the business figures of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Blackrock were received positively, which also supported the share price of the Swiss bank UBS (+0.9%). Technology stocks reaped the rewards of strong figures from Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC. Among others, Ams-Osram improved by 5.4 percent. Cyclical stocks were in demand following encouraging economic data in the US. ABB and Amrize soared by 2.6 and 0.9 percent. Sika recovered with a gain of 2.2 percent.

Europe
European stock markets closed mixed on Thursday, torn between the luxury goods and semiconductor sectors. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.5% to 611.6 points. In Paris, the SBF 120 and CAC 40 each lost 0.2%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 rose 0.3% and the FTSE 100 added 0.6% in London. Germany returned to growth in 2025, with GDP rising 0.2%, according to preliminary estimates from the German statistics office, Destatis. EMEIS (-3%): The former Orpea announced on Wednesday evening the creation of Isemia, a healthcare real estate company dedicated to its healthcare real estate assets operated in Europe. GTT (+2%): The liquefied natural gas transport technology specialist confirmed on Wednesday evening that it had won an order from Samsung Heavy Industries in the fourth quarter of 2025 to design the tanks for two new LNG carriers. The value of the contract was not disclosed. M6 (+1.5%): The audiovisual group reported on Wednesday evening that all Amazon Prime members in France could now access the content of its live and on-demand video platform M6+ free of charge. SANOFI (-1%): The pharmaceutical group is preparing an improved offer to acquire the American biotech company Ocular Therapeutix, La Lettre reported on Thursday.

United States
Stocks climbed and Nasdaq recovered some of Wednesday’s losses after upbeat earnings from a supplier to the artificial-intelligence boom and two of Wall Street’s biggest banks. The Nasdaq composite ended the day up 0.2% after paring most of its morning gains. After fading from their own intraday peaks, the S&P 500 added 0.3% for the day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%. Semiconductor stocks including Applied Materials, AMD and ASML rallied after contract chip maker TSMC posted a record quarter. Also boosting sentiment: The White House will exempt imported chips used to build out U.S. supply chains from new 25% tariffs. Nvidia, the largest U.S. company by market cap, added 2.1%; Broadcom and Meta Platforms also climbed. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both reported forecast-beating earnings, with the former posting record annual revenue. Shares rallied, following a tough week for financial stocks. Goldman gained 4.6%. Industrials also helped drive up the Dow, with Caterpillar up 1.3% and Honeywell gaining 0.9%.Smaller stocks continued their momentum. The Russell 2000 index closed at a record for the second straight day after Fed data showed a surprise drop in weekly jobless claims, suggesting the labor market might be faring better than expected. Growing economic optimism, along with a more cautious view of the AI build-out, has prompted a “rotation trade” on Wall Street in recent weeks, with investors selling tech stocks and buying up other sectors. So far this year, the trade has helped the Russell 2000 to a hot start—the index is up 7.8%, compared with a modest 1.2% bump for the Nasdaq. After Thursday’s 0.9% gain, the Russell 2000 has beaten the S&P 500 for 10 straight days, its longest streak against the broad benchmark since 2008, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Asia
Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Friday. Technology stocks also aid in the surge on revived AI-driven growth optimism. The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Friday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The Japanese market is trading notably lower on Friday, extending the losses in the previous session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 53,874.59, down 235.91 points or 0.44 percent, after hitting a low of 53,706.79 earlier. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is gaining more than 1 percent, while Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down more than 1 percent. Among automakers, Toyota is edging down 0.4 percent and Honda is declining more than 1 percent. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea and Taiwan are up 1.0 and 1.5 percent, respectively, while New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore are higher by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. Malaysia is bucking the trend and is down 0.2 percent. Indonesia is closed for the Ascension of Prophet Muhammad.

Bonds
New signs of resilience in the U.S. labor market give a boost to Treasury yields and the dollar. The 10-year Treasury note yield increased by 3 basis points to 4.17%. On the one hand, investors' renewed appetite for risk is likely to have dampened interest in “safe havens” such as bonds. On the other hand, however, market participants also referred to the fading prospect of interest rate cuts.

Analysis
Target price for Lindt&Sprüngli: Goldman Sachs upgrades to CHF 111,200 (110,700) – Sell
Target price for Sika: Kepler Cheuvreux downgrades to CHF 255 (260) – Buy
Target price for Partners Group: Goldman Sachs upgrades to CHF 1,220 (1,190) – Neutral

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