For the first time since 2022, Walmart shoppers filled their tanks with an average of less than 10 gallons per trip at its gas stations. “That’s an indication of stress,” said Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey in an interview. “The headline consumer is reasonably healthy, but when you look underneath, the pressure is uneven.” The retailer on Thursday reported strong sales growth in the most recent quarter and noted that rising fuel prices could draw more cash-strapped low-income shoppers. In this environment, Walmart plans to keep prices low to grab share but could lift prices later if fuel costs stay high, he said. The company also largely left its financial expectations for the rest of the year unchanged. That was a disappointment for some investors, who sent shares down sharply in Thursday’s session. The company said that higher tax refunds to shoppers in the most recent quarter likely muted some of the impact of higher fuel costs on its results. Meanwhile, higher-income shoppers are gravitating to Walmart’s fast online delivery services and more premium selection in categories such as fashion and beauty, said Rainey.

The Swiss stock market closed on a firm note on Thursday despite lingering concerns about Middle East tensions, and data showing a sharp drop in Swiss industrial production in the first quarter. The benchmark SMI, which slipped into the red about an hour past noon and stayed weak for the next few hours, emerged above the flat line thereafter to eventually settle with a gain of 47.14 points or 0.35% at 13,446.43. Sika climbed nearly 2%. Kuehne + Nagel moved up 1.4%, while Straumann Holding, ABB and Geberit gained 1%-1.2%. Givaudan, Swiss Life Holding, Roche, Novartis, Logitech International, Sonova, UBS Group and Julius Baer posted moderate gains. Swiss Re drifted down 3.2%. Helvetia Baloise Holding ended down by 1.84%. VAT Group, Sandoz Group, Schindler Ps and Partners Group lost more than 1%. Swisscom also ended notably lower. On the economic front, Switzerland's industrial production declined at the steepest pace in nearly six years, provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Industrial production plunged 7.1% year-over-year in the first quarter, much faster than the 0.4% drop in the fourth quarter. Further, this was the fastest decrease since the second quarter of 2020. On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial output dropped 1.6% quarterly, after falling 2.9% in the previous quarter.

Europe
European stocks closed mixed on Thursday after a choppy session. Concerns about U.S.-Iran conflict and disappointing regional PMI data weighed on sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.04% up. The FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended down by 0.53% and 0.39%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.35%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Russia and Sweden ended higher. Poland, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye closed weak, while Austria, Netherlands and Norway ended flat. In the UK market, 3i Group, SSE, ICG and Babcock International gained 2.6%-3.25%. Centrica, National Grid, Antofagasta, Kingfisher, IG Group, Rio Tinto, Sainsbury (J), Admiral Group and Segro were among the other prominent gainers. AutoTrader Group tumbled 8.8%. Convatec Group shed 4.95%. BT Group drifted down nearly 5% after logging lower revenue for fiscal 2026 due to a decline in its international business. Airtel Africa, Whitbread, Weir Group, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Rightmove, Imperial Brands, Melrose Industries, IAG, Vodafone Group and Lion Finance lost 1.6%-2.7%. Endeavour Mining, Lloyds Banking Group, Rolls-Royce holdings and Metlen Energy & Metals also ended notably lower. In the German market, Merck gained about 3%. Zalando and Symrise moved up 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. BASF, Adidas, E.ON and Siemens Healthineers also closed notably higher. Commerzbank ended down 3.4%. Munich RE, Scout24, Rheinmetall, SAP, Hannover RE, Brenntag and Gea Group lost 1.3%-2.4%. In the French market, Edenred moved up 3.5%. Air Liquide, ArcelorMittal, Pernod Ricard and Sanofi gained 1%-1.6%. Airbus drifted down 4.2%. Teleperformance eased by about 3%, while Accor, Stellantis, Orange, Societe Generale, Kering, Bouygues, Dassault Systemes, Vinci, Renault, Thales, Danone and Safran lost 1%-2%.

United States
Following the rally seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the downside in early trading on Thursday before regaining ground over the course of the day. The major averages saw considerable volatility in the latter part of the session but finished in positive territory, with the Dow reaching a new record closing high. The Dow advanced 276.31 points or 0.6 percent to 50,285.66, the S&P 500 rose 12.75 points or 0.2 percent to 7,445.72 and the Nasdaq inched up 22.74 points or 0.1 percent to 26,293.10. The initial pullback on Wall Street came amid a substantial rebound by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures surging as much as 4.5 percent after plummeting by 5.7 percent on Wednesday. Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off the negative reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), although the AI leader still slumped by 1.8 percent. The decrease by shares of Nvidia came even though the chipmaker reported better than expected first quarter results, as investors worry about the sustainability of its rapid growth. 'The chip giant is starting to sound like a broken record, playing the same message over and over again,' said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. It effectively says AI demand is strong, lots of customers are queuing up for its chips, and there is still much more to go for.' Disappointing earnings news from Walmart (WMT) also generated some negative sentiment early in the session, with the retail giant plunging by 7.3 percent. Computer hardware stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 4.9 percent. The rally by the sector came after a report from the Wall Street Journal said Trump administration is awarding $2 billion in grants to nine quantum-computing companies.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia and Australia are mostly up on Friday. In Tokyo, the Topix is up 1.0 per cent. There is a sense of relief that Japanese consumer prices rose less sharply in April than economists had forecast, although observers believe this will not deter the Bank of Japan from raising interest rates.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries regained ground after an early slump but still closed modestly lower. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by 1.4 basis points to 4.586 percent after reaching a high of 4.635 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers Sonova target to EUR 206 (215) – Neutral
UBS downgrades Swiss Re to Sell (Neutral) – Target CHF 112 (131)
Jefferies raises Shell target to 4,500 (4,400) GBp – Buy

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