Oracle logged double-digit revenue growth in its most recent quarter and set its sights on even bigger gains in the fiscal year ahead, pushing shares higher after hours. Chief Executive Safra Catz said Wednesday the cloud-services company now expects $67 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, which started this month. That would be a 16% jump from the prior year and more than $1 billion higher than Oracle had previously estimated, she said. The stock jumped 7.6%, to $189.75, in after-hours trading. For the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, Oracle’s revenue was up 11%, at $15.9 billion. That topped analyst forecasts for $15.58 billion, according to FactSet. Cloud services and license support revenue was up 14% during the quarter, while cloud license and on-premises license revenue gained 9% year-over-year. Quarterly earnings jumped to $3.43 billion, or $1.19 a share, from $3.14 billion, or $1.11 a share, in the same period a year earlier. Stripping out one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.70 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting $1.64 a share. Higher growth rates are expected to be driven by both Oracle’s cloud applications and cloud infrastructure businesses, executives said. The Austin, Texas, company is forecasting its total cloud growth rate, which accounts for both applications and infrastructure, to rise 40% this fiscal year, compared with 24% in the prior one.

As on the previous day, the Swiss stock market closed slightly down on Wednesday. The SMI lost 0.3 per cent to 12,316 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were eleven losers and eight gainers, with one stock closing unchanged. A total of 15.65 (previously: 25.02) million shares were traded. The market was weighed down by declines in the defensive heavyweights Nestlé (-1.1%) and Novartis (-0.6%), whereas Roche closed slightly higher. UBS recovered by 1.1 per cent after the previous day's slump due to the capital requirements. Disillusionment regarding the framework agreement between the USA and China was also noticeable in the luxury segment, with Richemont down 0.1 per cent. Outside the SMI, Swatch dropped by 1 per cent. Sonova held up well with an unchanged share price. The Danish hearing aid manufacturer Demant is buying the German hearing aid chain Kind, thereby expanding its presence in one of Europe's largest markets. The acquisition was said to be detrimental to its competitor Sonova.

Europe
The European stock markets closed lower on Wednesday, despite the publication of satisfactory inflation figures across the Atlantic and the conclusion of a trade agreement on rare earths between China and the United States. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell by 0.3% to 551.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 lost 0.4% and 0.3% respectively. The DAX 40 shed 0.2% in Frankfurt, while the FTSE 100 clawed back 0.1% in London. PUBLICIS (+2.5%): the advertising group has won the management of Mars' global media account, the American snack and pet food specialist announced on Tuesday evening. The value of this account, which will be managed by the British group WPP from 2022, is estimated at 1.7 billion dollars gross, or around 1.5 billion euros, according to COMvergence. SES (+4.2%): the European Commission announced on Tuesday that it had unconditionally approved the proposed acquisition of the American satellite operator INTELSAT by its Luxembourg-based competitor SES. INDITEX (-4.4% in Madrid): the owner of Zara reported quarterly sales below analysts' expectations.

United States
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1 point and was unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5%. Investors have been encouraged in recent days by a slate of fresh data that has shown the economy is humming along. Just last week, the monthly jobs report showed that the U.S. added more jobs than expected, assuaging many investors who were worried about an imminent downturn because of tariffs. Wall Street is also more confident about rate cuts this year, and Trump repeated his call that the Federal Reserve should slash interest rates. Interest-rate futures showed the chances of three or more 0.25 percentage point cuts this year rising Tuesday, according to CME Group data. The chances of one or zero cuts ticked down. Shares of companies that are particularly sensitive to the path of interest rates jumped in trading. Synchrony Financial added 1.7%, while Apollo Global Management rose 1.8%. Meta Platforms dropped in price by 1.2 per cent. The company is reportedly in advanced talks to invest around USD 14 billion in Scale AI and hire the startup's CEO to lead AI development. Lockheed Martin shares plunged 4.2 per cent to the south. According to a report, the US Air Force is ordering far fewer F-35 fighter jets than planned for 2024. The video game retailer Gamestop recorded falling sales in the quarter but was still in the black. The share price of the ‘meme veteran’ fell by 5.4 per cent. General Motors rose by 1.9 per cent. The car manufacturer is spending 4 billion dollars to produce more vehicles in the USA in order to reduce the burden of tariffs. First Solar gained 2 per cent following an upgrade to ‘buy’ by Jefferies. The former and still influential Starbucks boss Howard Schultz supports the coffee house chain's restructuring plan and the share price rose by 4.4 per cent. GitLab (-10.6 per cent) spooked with a weak outlook. SailPoint shot up by more than 14.7 per cent after better-than-expected first-quarter figures. Dave & Buster's Entertainment (+17.7%) surprised positively with its sales performance. Late Tuesday, American and Chinese negotiators said they had agreed on a framework to get trade talks back on track, essentially restoring last month’s pact in which both countries lowered tariffs. As part of the deal, Beijing agreed to restore rare-earth export licenses for U.S. automakers and manufacturers, but The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that China had also put a six-month limit on the licenses, an arrangement that gives Beijing leverage if trade tensions flare up again. U.S. crude-oil prices jumped 4.9% to $68.15 a barrel after news reports that the U.S. was preparing to partially evacuate the Iraqi Embassy over regional security risks. It was the biggest one-day jump since Oct. 3.

Asia
Asian indexes diverged for the Thursday trading session. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.6 per cent to 38,207 points. In Seoul, however, the Kospi rose 0.9 per cent. Political stabilisation following the election of a new president last week continues to provide support here. Shanghai held up well, while the HSI in Hong Kong dropped by half a per cent. According to market participants, reports that the USA is to withdraw embassy and military personnel from Iraq are causing uncertainty. The background to these reports are fears of an Israeli attack on neighbouring Iran due to the lack of progress in its nuclear negotiations with the USA.

Bonds
U.S. Government bonds staged a big rally after the latest monthly report on consumer prices, dragging the yield on 10-year Treasury notes down to 4.42%. US consumer prices rose slightly less than expected in May, as did the core rate, at least in a year-on-year comparison. This fuelled speculation that interest rates would be cut. Yields fell to the day's lows with strong demand at an auction of ten-year debt securities with a volume of 39 billion dollars. Traders spoke of another litmus test for confidence in US bonds.

Analysis
Price target Barry Callebaut: UBS downgrades to CHF 900 (1020) - Neutral
Target price R&S: UBS raises to CHF 29.75 (26.00) - Buy
Target price Huber+Suhner: UBS lifts to CHF 99 (94) - Buy