The merger puts Elon Musk’s rocket and artificial-intelligence companies under one roof. Elon Musk said SpaceX acquired xAI, a deal that combines his powerful rocket-and-satellite business with his artificial-intelligence startup that is facing steep competition. SpaceX confirmed the deal, posting a memo Musk sent out about the arrangement on its website. “SpaceX has acquired xAI to form the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth,” Musk, the top executive at both companies, said in the memo. The combined company is valued at $1.25 trillion, people familiar with the matter said. The merger valued xAI at around $250 billion, the people said. Bloomberg earlier reported on the valuations. SpaceX previously invested $2 billion into xAI. Last week, Tesla committed to invest the same amount in the company.

Swiss stocks closed on a strong note on Monday, in line with other markets in Europe, thanks to encouraging retail sales and manufacturing activity data. The benchmark SMI closed with an impressive gain of 220.85 points or 1.67% at 13,409.11, the day's high. Nestle climbed about 2.85%, Richemont, Logitech International, Amrize, Novartis, Lindt & Spruengli, Galderma Group, Schindler Ps and UBS Group gained 2%-2.5%. Helvetia Baloise Holding, Holcim, Zurich Insurance, SGS, ABB, Sika, Julius Baer, Swiss Life Holding and Roche Holding moved up 1%-2%. Sonova ended down by about 1.1%. Alcon, VAT Group, Givaudan and Partners Group slipped 0.3%-0.7%. A report from the Federal Statistical Office showed Swiss retail sales increased at the fastest pace in six months in December. The report said retail sales climbed 1% on a monthly basis in December in real terms, reversing a 0.1% fall in November. Sales of food, drinks, and tobacco increased 1.3%, while those of non-food products dropped 0.4%. On a yearly basis, retail sales growth accelerated to 2.9% in December from 1.7% in November. That was above the expected increase of 2.5%. Online sales were 10.8% higher, recovering sharply from a 13.1% plunge in November. Switzerland's procure.ch and UBS manufacturing PMI rose to 48.8 in January 2026 from an upwardly revised 46.4 in December, signalling a modest easing of pressure on the industrial sector.

Europe
European markets closed on a positive note on Monday, riding on data showing an improvement in the manufacturing activity in the major economies of the region in the month of January. Investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.03%. France's CAC 40 gained 0.67%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX moved up 1.15% and 1.05%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 1.67% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate gains. Iceland and Poland edged up marginally, while Norway, Russia and Turkiye closed weak. In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion climbed more than 6% and Intercontinental Hotels Group gained 4.15%. IAG, AstraZeneca, Beazley, Ashtead Group, Natwest Group, Compass Group, Easyjet, Barclays, GSK, Aviva, Airtel Africa, Howden Joinery, Standard Chartered, IMI and Lloyds Banking Group moved up 2.3%-4%. Endeavour Mining, BAE Systems and Autotrader Group declined sharply. Fresnillo, Melrose Industries and Experian also closed weak. In the German market, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, SAP, Deutsche Telekom and Hannover Rueck gained 2%-2.6%. Allianz, BASF, Continental, Siemens, Fresenius, Heidelberg Materials, Gea Group, Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck Holding moved up 1%-1.8%. Rheinmetall dropped about 2.7%. Beiersdorf, Qiagen, Symrise and Brenntag also ended notably lower.

United States
Following the mixed performance seen last week, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day, with the Dow posting a standout gain. The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the day but remained in positive territory. The Dow jumped 515.19 points or 1.1 percent to 49,407.66, the Nasdaq climbed 130.29 points or 0.6 percent to 23,592.11 and the S&P 500 rose 37.41 points or 0.5 percent to 6,976.44. The strength on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded for the first time in 12 months in January. The ISM said its manufacturing PMI jumped to 52.6 in January from 47.9 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 48.5. The upbeat economic data helped traders shrug off lingering trade tensions along with renewed uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy. Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.3 percent. Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Banking, semiconductor and retail stocks also saw considerable strength, while energy stocks moved to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

Asia
After the previous day's setback due to the weakness in technology stocks, the Asian stock markets are already rising sharply again on Tuesday. The dip at the start of the week has thus been ironed out. Investors are taking more risks in view of the Wall Street data. Technology stocks that had been shunned the previous day, such as SK Hynix (+8.8%), shot up, dragging the South Korean benchmark index Kospi with them. Meanwhile, headlines are coming from India and Australia.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the session after seeing initial strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.4 basis points to 4.275 percent.

Analysis
Vontobel raises Swatch target to CHF 160 (140) – Hold
Vontobel lowers Lonza target to CHF 670 (700) – Buy
Citi raises Anglo American to Buy (Neutral) – Target GBP 45 (33)

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