The Zug-based investment firm Partners Group intends to take legal action against the U.S. investment firm Grizzly Research. This was announced by Chairman of the Board Steffen Meister in an interview with the “NZZ am Sonntag.” In a report released in late April, Grizzly Research had circulated serious allegations against Partners Group. “We have decided to take legal action against those responsible at Grizzly Research,” said Meister. The report claimed, for example, that Partners Group was “worse than Wirecard”—one of the biggest fraud cases in German economic history. Grizzly and its allies, who specialize in short selling, profited from the drop in Partners Group’s stock price following the publication of the report, the newspaper writes.

The Swiss stock market edged up on Friday, with a gain of 0.4 percent to 13,503 points. Trading on the Swiss stock exchange will be suspended on May 26 (Monday of Pentecost). Cyclical stocks were among the leaders amid hopes for a swift end to the Middle East conflict. Sika rose by 3.0 percent, Givaudan by 2.3 percent, and Holcim by 2.0 percent. Partners Group shares ranked at the very bottom of the SMI. These dropped by 4.6 percent to 41.20 francs. However, shares were traded ex-dividend. The asset management expert paid out 46 francs per share. Richemont shares slipped 0.6 percent. The Cartier owner reported accelerated revenue growth for its latest quarter, despite the headwinds from the Middle East conflict. Among smaller caps, Julius Bär plummeted by 6.9 percent. During its earnings presentation, the bank had reported a slowdown in client inflows at the beginning of the year. Within the SMI, the share price of its significantly larger competitor, UBS, gained ground.

Europe
On Monday, U.S.-Iran tensions weighed on oil prices and long-term interest rates. The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 1% to 631.63 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 advanced 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 jumped 2% The London Stock Exchange and U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Spring Bank Holiday and Memorial Day, respectively. The sharp drop in oil prices benefited airline stocks such as Air France-KLM (+6.2% in Paris) and Lufthansa (+3.6% in Frankfurt), while oil company stocks, including TotalEnergies (-1.25%), lost ground. The tourism sector, including Accor (+3.1%), was in demand. ABIVAX (+8.7%): The biotechnology company reported on Friday evening a loss for the first quarter of this year due to higher research and development costs yet indicated maintaining ample cash reserves to fund operations through the end of 2027. NANOBIOTIX (+0.5%): The biotechnology company revealed on Friday evening that the underwriters for its previously announced global offering had fully exercised their over-allotment option, bringing the total proceeds from its capital increase to $100 million, or approximately €86.1 million.

United States
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day.

Asia
Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from European markets and lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed uncertainty about a potential peace deal to end the Middle East conflict after the US attacked key Iranian missile launch sites in Southern Iran and boats attempting to lay mines, in what Iran said were defensive actions. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 64,897.64, down 260.55 points or 0.40 percent. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea is up 3.2 percent, while New Zealand, Hong Kong and Indonesia are higher by between 0.3 and 1.0 percent each. China, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan are lower by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each.

Bonds
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day. The 10-year Canadian government bond yield fell 6.57 basis points to 3.469%.

Analysis
Jefferies raises Sonova target to CHF 170 (155) – Underperform
Deutsche Bank increases Kühne + Nagel target to CHF 183 (180) – Hold
Deutsche Bank raises SoftwareOne target to CHF 8.50 (7.55) – Hold

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