EBay lifted its full-year outlook after closing its acquisition of Depop and reporting revenue growth in the second quarter. The online marketplace said it now expects gross merchandise volume, which measures all paid transactions between eBay users, to grow between 11.5% and 12.5% in 2026, up from a previous projection of 7% to 7.5% growth. Revenue is expected to grow around half a percentage point less than GMV, the company said Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet currently expect full-year GMV of $87.06 billion, representing around 9.4% growth, and revenue up 9.7% to $12.18 billion. EBay also projected full-year adjusted earnings per share growing between 10% and 12% year-over-year. Analysts currently expert adjusted earnings of $6.10 a share this year, representing nearly 11% growth.

Despite very nearly falling below the flat line a little past noon, the Switzerland stock market stayed positive right through the trading session on Wednesday thanks to selective buying at a few frontline counters. The benchmark SMI, which dropped to a low of 14,466.40 nearly an hour past noon, recovered to 14,568.16 in the final hour before settling at 14,551.56, gaining 88.33 points or 0.81%. Sandoz Group climbed more than 6% after the Basel-based company reaffirmed its full-year guidance and highlighted continued momentum in its pipeline. Net sales for rose to $5,761 million in the first-half, up 10% from $5,232 million in the first half of the previous financial year. Sika gained 2.7%. Givaudan, Amrize, Galderma Group and Roche moved up 2%-2.1%. Geberit, Julius Baer and Lindt & Spruengli advanced 1.1%-1.5%. Straumann Holding, Lonza Group, Nestle, ABB, Swiss Re, Richemont and VAT Group posted moderate gains. Logitech International shed 2.3%. Swiss Life Holding, Swisscom, Alcon and Holcim lost 0.7%-1.1%.

Europe
European stocks closed mixed on Wednesday after swinging between gains and losses for most part of the day's trading session, as investors stayed somewhat cautious, assessing corporate earnings announcements, and weighing the prospects of U.S. and Iran reaching an agreement to end their conflict and pave the way for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Data showing increase in Germany's manufacturing and services sector activity aided sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.04%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 settled 0.08% up, Germany's DAX drifted down 0.29% and France's CAC 40 crept up 0.03%. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.61%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Russia and Spain ended higher. Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway and Poland settled weak, while Czech Republic, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Türkiye closed roughly flat. In the UK market, Next surged 5.8%. The fashion and homeware retailer raised its outlook for the third time this fiscal year. Glencore moved up 3.2% after reporting a sharp rise in first half earnings on the back of higher commodity prices. Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Rio Tinto climbed 2.7%-3%. Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo and Glencore moved up 5.7%, 4.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Coca-Coa HBC, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Rolls-Royce Holdings, AstraZeneca, Haleon, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Melrose Industries and IMI gained 2%-4%. Prudential dropped more than 6%. HSBC Holdings ended 4.7% down. Autotrader Group, Convatec Group, Vodafone Group, Entain, BP, Airtel Africa, Persimmon, Standard Chartered, BAE Systems, Shell and Smith & Nephew closed lower by 1%-3%. In the German market, Fresenius moved up 5.2%, supported by better-than-expected second-quarter results and an upward revision in its full-year earnings guidance. Beiersdorf rallied 5.1%. GEA Group, Bayer, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Boerse, Adidas, SAP and Brenntag gained 1%-2.5%. Siemens Energy moved higher as the company's sales, margins and orders rose sharply in the third quarter. Infineon Technologies closed lower by more than 5% despite the company reporting record quarterly revenue and raising its full-year revenue adjusted free cash flow forecasts. Deutsche Post, Continental, Zalando, RWE, Vonovia, Daimler Truck Holding, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Telekom, BMW and Volkswagen also ended notably lower.

United States
Stocks extended their recent upward move in early trading on Wednesday but came under pressure over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 sliding into negative territory. The major averages saw further downside going into the end of the day. While the Dow remained positive, climbing 263.24 points or 0.5 percent to 54,349.12, the S&P 500 dipped 12.97 points or 0.2 percent at 7,723.55 and the Nasdaq slid 221.55 points or 0.8 percent to 26,363.44. The downturn by the markets as the day progressed may have reflected profit taking following a four-day winning streak, which saw the Dow and S&P 500 reach new record highs. Lingering concerns about AI spending may also have generated selling pressure after SpaceX (SPCX) reported its first quarterly results as a public company. While SpaceX reported better than expected second quarter revenues, the rocket company's stock plunged by 13.6 percent as the company also reported a spike in capital spending. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also tumbled by 7 percent on the day despite reporting better than expected second quarter results. Meanwhile, the narrower Dow held on to some of its early gains due in part to sharp increase by shares of Disney (DIS). Disney jumped by 3.7 percent after the entertainment giant reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings. Dow components Amgen (AMGN) and Nvidia (NVDA) also posted significant gains, surging by 4.6 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Asia
Asian stock markets were mostly down on Thursday. Weak results from SanDisk and Western Digital pushed shares in the chip sector further into negative territory, meaning volatility in this sector’s shares continues. Data storage provider SanDisk reported a sharp rise in revenue for the fourth quarter, as the expansion of AI continues to fuel demand. Once again, the most pronounced reaction is being seen on the Kospi in Seoul, which is down 4.2 per cent. Sharp falls in the two index heavyweights, Samsung Electronics (-5.9 per cent) and SK Hynix (-9.6 per cent), are dragging the index down. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo is down 1.0 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before closing slightly higher. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by 1.0 basis points to 4.617 percent.

Analysis
UBS raises Zehnder’s target price to CHF 89 (87) – Buy
UBS raises Sensirion’s target price to CHF 88 (83) – Buy
Citi downgrades HSBC to Neutral (Buy) – target price GBP 15.70 (16.40)