Porsche car deliveries fell 15% in the first quarter as the end of production of its petrol-powered 718 range and the discontinuation of tax incentives for electric and hybrid vehicles in the U.S. dented sales. Strong deliveries of the fully electric Macan model following its market launch in the first quarter last year also skewed this year’s figures, it said. The German luxury sports-car maker said Friday that it delivered 60,991 cars in the first three months of the year, down from 71,470 in the same period last year. Automakers have had a torrid time as they contend with a muted transition to electric vehicles, U.S. tariffs and a tough Chinese market characterized by intense competition and a new luxury tax policy. Porsche last year said it would scale back its EV ambitions following the slow uptake of the technology and instead expand its lineup with more gas-powered and plug-in hybrid models. Deliveries in Porsche’s largest sales region of North America fell 11% to 18,344 cars in the first quarter, while continued challenges in China meant deliveries in the country dropped 21% to 7,519 vehicles.

The Switzerland market, which stayed positive right through the session on Friday, ended with just a marginal gain as stocks gave up most of their gains past mid- afternoon. The mood in the market remained positive on hopes the U.S.-Iran diplomatic talks this weekend will result in a positive outcome. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 13,291.80, settled with a gain of 23.72 points or 0.18% at 13,183.28. Holcim moved up 4.23%. VAT Group ended nearly 3% up, and Sandoz Group climbed 2.43%. Galderma Group, Amrize and Lonza Group gained 1.91%, 1.83% and 1.74%, respectively. Zurich Insurance Group fell 4.1%. Lindt & Spruengli drifted down 1.49% and Kuehne + Nagel lost 1.01%. In economic news, Swiss consumers remained more pessimistic at the end of the first quarter, monthly survey results from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed. The consumer sentiment index dropped to -43.0 in March from -30.4 in the previous month. The expected score was -32. Moreover, this was lowest reading since December 2023, when it was -44.0.

Europe
The major European markets closed higher on Friday with investors picking up stocks amid hopes the upcoming diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran this weekend will yield a positive outcome. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.73%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.33%, Germany's DAX ended up by 0.72% and France's CAC 40 closed 0.68% up. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.18%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate gains. Greece, Norway and Portugal ended notably lower. In the UK market, Convatec Group climbed nearly 4.5%. Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta, Kingfisher, Burberry Group, ICG, Croda International and IMI gained 2%-3.1%. Halma, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Coca-Cola HBC, Fresnillo, Pershing Square Holdings, Informa, Diploma, Natwest Group, Whitbread and Anglo American Plc also closed notably higher. Metlen Energy & Metals fell 8.8%. BAE Systems shed about 3.3%. The Sage Group, Hiscox, Compass Group, Babcock International, Melrose Industries, Segro, Pearson, BP and Tesco lost 1%-2.2%. In the German market, Heidelberg Materials jumped 3%. BASF, BMW, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Healthineers, Symrise, Deutsche Post and Infineon gained 1%-2%. Rheinmetall fell 5.6%. Hannover Re, Zalando, E.ON, Brenntag and Munich Re lost 1%-1.6%. In the French market, STMicroelectronics climbed 3.5%. Stellantis, ArcelorMittal, Publicis Groupe, Capgemini, Edenred and Schneider Electric moved up 1.8%-2.5%. Legran, Saint-Gobain, BNP Paribas, Pernod Ricard and Bureau Veritas also closed notably higher. Thales drifted down by more than 3%. TotalEnergies, Vinci, Sanofi, AXA, Safran, Orange, Airbus and Bouygues ended moderately lower.

United States
After recovering from an initial pullback to end Thursday's session mostly higher, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session before closing mixed. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 80.48 points or 0.4 percent to a more than one-month closing high of 22,902.89, the S&P 500 edged down 7.77 points or 0.1 percent to 6,816.89 and the Dow slid 269.23 points or 0.6 percent to 47,916.57. Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week due largely to the rally seen on Wednesday. The Nasdaq spiked by 4.7 percent, while the S&P 500 surged by 3.6 percent and the Dow jumped by 3.0 percent. The pullback by the Dow partly reflected a slump by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud-based software company tumbling by 3.5 percent. Dow components Nike (NKE), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Verizon (VZ) also showed notable moves to the downside. Meanwhile, the lackluster performance by the broader markets came amid lingering about whether the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East will hold. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan showing a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plunged to 47.6 in April after falling to 53.3 in March. Economists had expected the index to dip to 52.0. Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves. Semiconductor stocks showed a significant move to the upside, however, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.3 percent to a record closing high. Gold and computer hardware stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, while software, biotechnology and healthcare stocks saw considerable weakness.

Asia
Whilst the US dollar and oil prices are rising, Asian stock markets are falling across the board on Monday. However, there is no sign of panic. The financial markets are reacting to developments in the Middle East crisis, as peace talks between the US and Iran have, for the time being, broken down.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries have lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.4 basis points to 4.317 percent.

Analysis
Citi downgrades ABB to Neutral (Buy) – Target: CHF 76
MS downgrades Enel to EUR 9.50 (10) – Equalweight
UBS upgrades Leonardo to EUR 64 (60) – Neutral

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