Smart-ring maker Oura said it was delaying its previously announced initial public offering due to market uncertainty. The San Francisco-based company, which was expected to fetch a valuation well above the $11 billion achieved in a funding round last year, said Tuesday it was postponing its listing “despite strong demand, due to uncertainty in the IPO market.” Oura made its IPO paperwork public earlier this month. It said the issue had attracted strong investor demand, but that the timing wasn’t right. The company was aiming to list on the Nasdaq as soon as this month. Oura’s IPO postponement makes the Silicon Valley startup one of the highest-profile firms to delay its offering as investors grapple with volatile oil prices caused by disruptions to flows through the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting inflationary pressures. The IPO market had been booming until recently, with companies raising $127 billion so far this year, up 400% from 2025. Holtec Nuclear and Bamboo Insurance have delayed their planned IPOs in recent days because of the uncertain outlook. Earlier this month, AI giant Anthropic pushed back its blockbuster public offering from October to November. Investors expect the company to be valued at around $2 trillion and raise up to $100 billion in the offering, both figures that would top records set by SpaceX’s June debut.

After staying positive till the penultimate hour of the day's session, the Swiss market faced some resistance and eventually closed on a weak note on Tuesday. The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 14,053.26 around mid-morning, ended the day with a loss of 30.72 points or 0.22% at 13,912.19, slightly above the day's low. Julius Baer surged 7.2% after Swiss regulator FINMA concluded a long-running enforcement procedure covering legacy risk-management and anti-money-laundering issues. The stock moved higher despite FINMA saying the lender committed serious breaches of supervisory requirements related to risk management and anti-money-laundering obligations. VAT Group climbed nearly 4%. Richemont and Galderma Group moved up 2.5% and 2.38%, respectively. Alcon, ABB, Logitech International, Sonova, Holcim and Givaudan gained 0.6%-1.25%. Lindt & Spruengli tumled 8.6% after the company cut its sales growth outlook. Straumann Holding lost 4.4%. Roche and Swiss Re ended lower by 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Nestle, Partners Group, Zurich Insurance and Swiss Life Holding lost 0.8%-1%. In economic news, a measure signaling future turning points in the Swiss economy strengthened further in September to the highest level in five years, results of a survey by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed.

Europe
After trading in positive territory for much of the day's trading session, most of the markets in Europe ended weak on Tuesday, hurt by some brisk selling in the final hour. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.09% down. The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.45% and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.53%, while Germany's DAX settled with a gain of 0.1%. Switzerland's SMI settled 0.22% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Türkiye closed with sharp to moderate losses. Denmark edged down marginally. Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and Sweden ended higher, while Greece closed flat. In the UK market, Weir gained nearly 3%. Convatec Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Halma, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Diploma, Airtel Africa, Coca-Cola HBC, IG Group Holdings, Babcock International, Scottish Mortgage, JD Sports Fashion, Marks & Spencer and Whitbread gained 1%-2.3%. Energy stocks Ithaca, BP and Shell ended down by 3.7%, 2.3% and 1.7%, respectively, as oil prices turned weak. Sainsbury (J), British American Tobacco, Rentokil Initial, Experian, Howden Joinery Group, Tesco, Lion Finance, Barratt Redrow and Bunzl lost 1.3%-2%. Fresenius Medical Care ended lower by about 3.1% following Berenberg slashing the stock's price target sharply and withdrawing its buy recommendation. Orange, Carrefour, Airbus, Danone, Societe Generale, Unibail Rodamco, AXA, L'Oreal, LVMH, Renault and EssilorLuxottica shed 1%-1.6%.

United States
U.S. stocks ended modestly lower after a worrying monthly survey of consumer confidence was offset by a Federal Reserve official cautioning against hasty rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 131.6 points, or 0.26%, to 51349.92. The S&P 500 slipped 12.85 points, or 0.17%, to 7670.84. The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 22.84 points, or 0.09%, at 26797.54. The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence dropped sharply this month to a low not seen since 2014 due in part to higher. The consumer confidence index fell by 6.7 points to 81.9, much weaker than economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast. Consumers also had a tepid assessment of current labor market conditions and said they were worried about higher interest rates in the year ahead. Stocks bounced off their lows for the day when New York Fed President John Williams said the central bank didn't need to rush on hiking rates this year after its quarter-point raise weeks ago, and should instead take time to review additional data. "There is no need for urgency," Williams said in a speech in Buffalo, N.Y. Carnival shares jumped 13% to $25.11 after the cruise operator reported record revenue in its latest completed quarter. Shares of Six Flags Entertainment slid 5.9% to $10.86 after the company said it would retire a popular roller coaster at one of its parks in the wake of several lawsuits alleging rider injuries.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia are showing mixed performance on Wednesday. Tokyo is seeing the most activity, with the Topix rising by 1.9 per cent, thereby recouping the previous day’s losses. The weaker yen is providing support. It is likely to be affected by an unexpected fall in Japanese industrial production in August, which tends to argue against further interest rate rises. In Seoul and Hong Kong, the stock market indices are at the previous day’s levels. In Shanghai, the Composite Index is up slightly by 0.3 per cent, following new purchasing managers’ data indicating an improvement in the economic situation.

Bonds
U.S. treasury yields meanwhile continued their march higher. Yields for the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 0.015 percentage point to 5.256%, its highest level since 2002. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.594%, also its highest level since 2002. The policy sensitive two-year was an outlier, falling 0.035 percentage point to 4.887% after Williams's comments.

Analysis