Anthropic’s artificial-intelligence tool Claude was used in the U.S. military’s operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, highlighting how AI models are gaining traction in the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the matter. Former Microsoft and General Motors executive Chris Liddell, who helped take the automaker public, has joined Anthropic’s board of directors, the company said. The appointment adds a board member with experience steering a large company through a public listing as Anthropic eyes a potential IPO. The developer of the Claude chatbot and a key rival to OpenAI has told financial partners that it is open to the possibility of listing by the end of this year. As chief financial officer at General Motors, Liddell led the company’s successful $23 billion IPO in 2010, after it emerged from bankruptcy the prior year. Anthropic on Thursday announced the close of a $30 billion financing, valuing the company at $380 billion, including the investment. The round was led by Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC and Coatue Management, The Journal previously reported. D.E. Shaw Ventures, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, ICONIQ and the Abu Dhabi AI fund MGX also participated.

The Swiss stock market ended the last trading day of the week with a gain. The SMI rose 0.5 percent to 13,601 points. Lonza was the day's winner in the SMI, gaining 4.3 percent. The group announced the nomination of Sami Atiya as an independent member of the Board of Directors. Subject to his election at the Annual General Meeting in May 2026, he will also become a member of the Strategy and Innovation Committee. Most recently, Atiya served for ten years as a member of ABB's Executive Committee, with responsibilities in the areas of robotics, motion, and discrete automation. Novartis added 1.0 percent. Novartis has achieved clinical trial success with its drug Vanrafia. Vanrafia slowed the decline in kidney function in adults with progressive autoimmune kidney disease IgA nephropathy (IgAN), according to the pharmaceutical company. Shares in the other two index heavyweights, Nestlé and Roche, increased by 0.6 and 0.3 percent, respectively. UBS shed 0.3 percent. Falling yields on the bond markets weighed on the banking sector, which led the decline in Europe by a long way. Sika shares were up 0.2 percent. The construction chemicals group is taking over Turkish adhesive manufacturer Akkim, with annual sales of around CHF 220 million. Financial details were not disclosed.

Europe
European stock markets ended Friday's trading session with mixed results. At the close, the Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.1% to 617.70 points. The CAC 40 fell 0.35% and the SBF 120 lost 0.3%. The DAX 40 ended up 0.25% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, while the FTSE 100 gained 0.4% in London. The session in Europe was driven by corporate earnings. CAPGEMINI (+5%): The digital services group indicated on Friday a target operating margin of 13.6% to 13.8% for 2026, after posting results broadly in line with its targets and analysts' expectations for 2025. EUTELSAT (+5.2%): The satellite operator confirmed on Friday its financial targets for its 2025-2026 financial year, which will end in late June, after reducing its net loss in the first half of the year. L'OREAL (-4.9%): The world's leading cosmetics company unveiled a slight improvement in its annual operating profitability and an acceleration in organic growth in the fourth quarter on Thursday evening. For the full year, net profit stood at €6.13 billion in 2025, down 4.4% year-on-year. SAFRAN (+8.3%): The aircraft engine and equipment manufacturer upgraded its targets for 2028 on Friday after posting higher earnings in 2025, thanks to strong demand for civil engine services and a favourable environment for defence activities. UBISOFT (+12.4%): On Thursday, the video game publisher released its net bookings - the equivalent of revenue - which showed double-digit growth for the third quarter of its fiscal year, driven by partnerships and the “Assassin's Creed” franchise, while Ubisoft embarked on a major transformation and cost-cutting plan.

United States
Even a cooler-than-expected inflation reading couldn’t keep stocks from posting their worst week since November. Major indexes finished mixed on Friday, and in the red for the week, after a choppy session marked by frequent reversals. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2% on Friday, extending its five-session loss to 2.1%. That marked the tech-heavy index’s fifth-consecutive weekly decline, its longest such streak since a seven-week slide that ended in May 2022. The S&P 500 edged up by less than 0.1% to end the week down 1.4%, its biggest weekly loss since Nov. 21, when investors’ anxieties over lofty tech valuations and aggressive AI spending plans fuelled a similar retreat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%, or 49 points. Already, a bright spot has emerged in the AI sector. Shares of Applied Materials gained 8% after the semiconductor-equipment maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results, boosted by soaring demand for AI computing. Other risky assets rose, too. Bitcoin climbed about 5% and was trading at $68,735 as of 4 p.m. New York time on Friday. Coinbase Global jumped 16% after the largest U.S. crypto exchange swung to a loss in the fourth quarter but expanded its revenue-generating business lines. Shares in U.S. steel and aluminum producers, including Nucor, Steel Dynamics and Cleveland-Cliffs, retreated after reports that the Trump administration is considering whether to narrow the scope of tariffs on the metals.

Asia
Asian indexes diverged for the Monday trading session. The mainland Chinese stock exchanges remain closed for the entire week due to the Chinese New Year holidays. In Seoul, South Korea, trading is suspended from Monday through Wednesday. Monday is also a holiday in the US. Trading is quiet at the other stock exchanges as the week begins. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 percent in a shortened session before the holiday break on thin trading volumes. The Hong Kong stock exchange will remain closed from Tuesday through Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index is up 0.1 percent. Weak Japanese economic data is having a dampening effect. In Sydney, Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.2 percent. ANZ Group lost 3.3 percent in the wake of profit-taking. Fortescue surrendered 4.1 percent. The recent decline in iron ore prices is likely to continue to weigh on the market.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields slipped on Friday following softer-than-expected U.S. consumer price index gains and ahead of a shortened week featuring the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. CPI slows in January to 2.4% from December’s 2.7%, but that may not be enough to convince the Fed to cut rates as labor markets remain robust. The 10-year Treasury note yield dropped 6.0 basis points to 4.04 percent.

Analysis
Citi downgrades Schindler to CHF 326 (327) – Buy
Rieter target price: UBS upgrades to CHF 3.70 (3.30) – Neutral
DKSH target price: Research Partners upgrades to CHF 79 (78) – Buy

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