UBS Group said it plans to buy back $3 billion of its own stock this year and that the amount of additional repurchases would depend on new banking rules being discussed in Switzerland. The Swiss bank said Wednesday that it aimed to do more buybacks, but that their amount would depend on clarity around Switzerland’s future regulatory regime and its financial performance. The buyback came on top of a dividend that was hiked by 22% to $1.10 a share. Analysts expected UBS to buy back $3.38 billion of its own stock this year and declare a dividend of $0.99 a share, according to consensus estimates compiled by the bank. Last year, the bank completed stock repurchases valued at $3 billion and paid out dividends of $0.90 a share.

After a positive start, Swiss stocks slipped into negative territory around noon on Tuesday, and then stayed weak till the end of the day's session. The benchmark SMI settled with a loss of 36.53 points or 0.27% at 13,372.58, about 60 points off the day's low of 13,312.54. Partners Group ended 6.5% down. Straumann Holding, SGS and Alcon lost 2.4%-2.5%. Sonova closed lower by 1.87%, while Richemont, Lonza Group and Sandoz Group lost 1.3%-1.6%. Lindt & Spruengli, Galderma Group, Kuehne + Nagel, Givaudan, Roche Holding and VAT Group also closed weak. Julius Baer climbed nearly 3%. Holcim gained about 1.4%. Schindler Ps closed nearly 1% up. Nestle, Sika, Amrize and ABB closed with moderate gains.

Europe
The major European markets failed to hold early gains and closed flat on Tuesday after spending much of the later part of the day's session in negative territory. Mining stocks moved higher as precious metals extended their recovery for a second straight day, while technology stocks traded weak amid AI-related concerns. Investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday. The ECB is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. The focus will be on the bank's views on growth, and for clues about future policy moves. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down by 0.26% and Germany;s DAX closed 0.09% down, while France's CAC 40 crept up 0.02%. Switzerland's SMI lost 0.27%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Denmark, Iceland and Netherlands ended weak, while Ireland and Spain closed flat. In the UK market, Anglo American Plc, Fresnillo and Antofagasta climbed 7.25%, 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively. Endeavour Mining moved up nearly 4% and Rio Tinto surged 3.5%, while Glencore gained 3.25%. Weir Group, Babcock International, Imperial Brands, Vodafone Group, British American Tobacco, Diageo, Persimmon, Rentokil Initial, Natwest Group, Marks & Spencer, National Grid, Prudential and Coca-Cola HBC moved up 1%-3.5%. Relx tumbled 14.4%. The stock is down more than 40% from a record high it posted in February last year. LSEG tanked 12.8% and The Sage Group fell 9.8%. ICG, Pearson, Experian, Informa, RightMove, JD Sports Fashiion, AutoTrader Group and Next tumbled 4.8%-8.2%. Compass Group, Convatec Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Pershing Square Holdings, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Interteck, 3i Group and Entain also declined sharply. In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding rallied nearly 6% after Bank of America raised the stock's rating. Siemens Energy climbed 5.1%. Fresenius, Brenntag, Fresenius Medical Care, RWE, BASF, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Post, Henkel and Heidelberg Materials also posted strong gains. Zalando closed more than 12% down. The company faces challenge with the rapid rise of social-media commerce such as TikTok Shop, according to Morgan Stanley.

United States
Stocks moved notably lower during trading on Tuesday, more than offsetting the strength seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels in the latter part of the session but remained in negative territory. The Nasdaq slumped 336.92 points or 1.4 percent to 23,255.19, the S&P 500 slid 58.63 points or 0.8 percent to 6,917.81 and the Dow fell 166.67 points or 0.3 percent to 49,240.99. The weakness on Wall Street was largely due to a rotation out of technology stocks, as reflected by the steep drop by the Nasdaq. Software stocks turned in some of the tech sector's worst performances, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down by 3.5 percent to its lowest closing level in over nine months. The weakness in the sector came despite a surge by shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR), which shot up by 6.9 percent after the AI-powered software provider reported better than expected fourth quarter results and provided upbeat guidance. Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 2.1 percent. Shares of NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) plunged by 4.5 percent even though the Dutch chipmaker reported fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines. Meanwhile, some stocks benefited from the rotation out of tech, including retail giant Walmart (WMT), which surged by 2.9 percent and surpassed a $1 trillion market capitalization.

Asia
There was no consistent picture on the Asian stock markets on Wednesday. Following Nintendo's poorly received business figures, prices on the Tokyo stock exchange fell sharply. In contrast, prices in Sydney are rising thanks to a further recovery in commodity prices. Precious metals appear to have completed their recent correction. The price of gold is back above the 5,000 dollar per troy ounce mark. Nintendo shares slumped by 12 per cent, despite solid figures. The main negative factor is an outlook for the current year that has only been confirmed.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries closed roughly flat after seeing modest weakness for much of the day. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.274 percent after reaching a high of 4.30 percent.

Analysis
Jefferies raises Lonza target to CHF 769 (764) – Buy
UBS raises Prudential target to 1,400 (1,385) GBp – Buy
Morgan Stanley lowers Stellantis to Equalweight (Overweight) – Target EUR 9.20

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