Akzo Nobel AKZA has agreed to sell its decorative paints business in Southeast Asia to Nippon Paint 4612 at an enterprise value of $1.35 billion. The Dutch paint company said Monday that net cash proceeds after taxes and minority partners are expected to be about $1 billion. The Dutch paint company confirmed the agreements with Nippon Paint encompass its decorative paints business in seven countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Akzo Nobel said the sale is expected to be completed in mid-2027, except for the Indonesia business, which is expected to be completed separately in late 2026. In Tokyo, Nippon Paint increased by 1.9 percent.

The SMI added 0.3 percent on Friday to 13,661 points. Among individual stocks, Novartis shares declined by 1.5 percent. Novartis has secured a drug candidate for autoimmune diseases through a multi-billion agreement in China. The pharmaceutical company has closed a deal worth up to $7.8 billion with the Chinese company Abogen Biosciences. This allows Novartis to license the drug and also grants it options on future therapies. Novartis will pay an upfront amount of $575 million. If all options are exercised, up to an additional $7.2 billion could be due, according to Abogen. Julius Bär plans to launch a share buyback program worth up to 600 million Swiss francs shortly and return capital to shareholders following the conclusion of a regulatory investigation in its home country. Julius Bär has sent another positive signal with the new buyback program, according to JP Morgan. The stock jumped 2.0 percent. Partners Group increased by 1.0 percent. The private equity firm is restructuring one of its flagship funds (Global Value Sicav)—which had limited payouts to investors at the beginning of the year—and splitting it into two sub-portfolios. ABB advanced 2.9 percent. According to market sources, this continued to be driven by confidence in ongoing investments in AI infrastructure.

Europe
European stock markets rebounded on Friday. According to MarketWatch data, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.8% to 631.4 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gained 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 added 1.2%, and the FTSE 100 climbed 0.3% in London. DANONE (+2.7%): On Friday, JPMorgan added the food and beverage group’s stock to its “positive catalyst watch” list, which includes stocks offering the best short-term risk-reward ratio. STELLANTIS (+0.9%): The automaker reported stable sales in the United States during the third quarter, a strong performance compared to that of its competitors General Motors and Ford, which are losing market share, particularly to their Asian rivals. ARGAN (-0.9%): Argan, the real estate company specializing in logistics platforms, has once again slightly raised its revenue target for 2026, following an acceleration in rental income growth during the third quarter.

United States
U.S. stocks ended the week on an upswing after slowing jobs growth tempered expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates again later this month. The S&P 500 rose 56.27 points, or 0.73%, to 7722.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 250.40 points, or 0.49%, to 51176.96. The Nasdaq gained 319.27 points, or 1.19%, to 27190.86, near a record high. Tesla shares rose 4.7% to $370.59 after the carmaker's third-quarter sales slumped but still beat Wall Street forecasts in a bumpy U.S. market for electric vehicles. Ford Motor's shares slipped after it sold fewer vehicles in the quarter, citing the phase out of two of its models. Nike's stock fell 3.6% to $33.87 a day after the company said it would shrink operations and cut jobs, with an expectation that sales would continue to drop this fiscal year. Shares of hard-drive makers Seagate Technology and Western Digital both fell 10% on a report that Japanese rival Toshiba plans to double its production capacity for drives used in AI data centers. Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison said that after his company acquires Warner Bros. Discovery, he plans to rename the combined entity Skydance. A federal judge approved a deal this week that will allow the $81 billion acquisition to go through.

Asia
In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Monday. Support is coming from the continued decline in oil prices. The stock exchanges in Seoul and Shanghai are closed at the start of the week due to holidays. Trading in Shanghai will not resume until Thursday. The region’s markets are led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the Nikkei 225 Index is up 2.2 percent. The broader Topix added 1.1 percent. Technology stocks, in particular, are benefiting from investors’ renewed appetite for risk. Advantest climbed by just over 4 percent, and Tokyo Electron by just over 5 percent. The stock market in Hong Kong is holding steady.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields initially fell after the payrolls report, but reversed course soon after as tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.043 percentage point to 5.276%, still down from the 24-year high it reached midweek. The 30-year Treasury edged up 0.027 percentage point to 5.629%. The policy-sensitive two-year snapped a three-day losing streak, rising 0.037 percentage point to 4.823%.

Analysis
Morgan Stanley upgrades Rolls-Royce to Overweight (Equalw.)/118 (132) GBp - Trader
Goldman Sachs launches Thales with Buy/target EUR 146 - Trader
Bernstein lifts Orange to Outperform (Marketperform)/EUR 13 (10.10) - Trader


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