Micron Technology’s second-quarter revenue nearly tripled as AI-related demand for memory is outpacing supply. The memory-chip maker said it is ramping up spending on memory capacity and that it sees no signs of the supply-demand imbalance subsiding. AI developers are hungry for memory storage because it allows models and agents to retain information and learn from past experiences. “We continue to expect supply-demand conditions for both DRAM and NAND to remain tight beyond calendar 2026,” Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra told analysts, referring to its two primary memory products. The comments came after Micron posted a profit of $13.79 billion, or $12.07 a share, in the quarter ended in late February, compared with $1.58 billion, or $1.41 a share, a year earlier. Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $12.20, ahead of the $9.19 anticipated by analysts, according to FactSet.

Save for a very brief while at the start, the Swiss market remained in negative territory on Wednesday, amid concerns about economic growth and caution ahead of monetary policy announcements from major central banks, including the Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank. While the Fed's announcement is due later in the day, the Swiss central bank is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Thursday. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are also slated to announce their rate decisions tomorrow. The Swiss National Bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. The benchmark SMI ended down by 196.93 points or 1.52% at 12,765.48, off the day's low of 12,723.11. Logitech International tumbled by more than 6% after UBS downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' rating, and cut its 12-month price target to CHF80 from CHF88. Nestle ended down by 3.55% and Lindt & Spruengli closed 3% down. Sonova and Roche holding lost 2.9% and 2.81%, respectively. Alcon, Swisscom, Novartis, Straumann Holding and Lonza Group ended lower by 1.4%-2.1%. Givaudan, Zurich Insurance, Geberit, SGS, Sandoz Group, Julius Baer, Schindler Ps and Helvetia Baloise Holding lost 0.5%-1%. VAT Group climbed about 1.8%. ABB and Holcim gained 1.4% and 1%, respectively. Kuehne + Nagel and Partners Group also closed higher.

Europe
European stocks failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Wednesday, as investors switched their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day. Stocks moved higher earlier in the day as oil prices slipped amid easing concerns about supplies but turned weak after the commodity pared early losses and moved notably higher amid fresh strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.75%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower by 0.94% and Germany's DAX drifted down 0.96%, while France's CAC 40 edged down 0.06%. Switzerland's SMI lost 1.52%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak. Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Norway and Spain ended higher. In the UK market, Diploma soared 18%. Shares of the specialist distributor of industrial controls, seals and life sciences products, surged following the company lifting its FY26 guidance. For fiscal 2026, the Group now projects organic revenue growth of 9%, revised from prior guidance of 6%. Operating margin is now expected at approximately 25%, updated form previous guidance of approximately 22.5%. Standard Chartered moved up 1.65%. Barclays gained about 1.5% after it announced a new strategic partnership with Sage Group. Weir Group climbed more than 2%. Babcock International, Halma, Spirax Group, IMI, Burberry Group, Easyjet, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Berkeley Group Holdings and Smiths Group also ended notably higher. Compass Group, 3i Group, Endeavour Mining, Metlen Energy & Metals, Unilever, British American Tobacco, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, National Grid, Imperial Brands, GSK, Haleon, Severn Trent and Relx lost 2%-4%. Prudential ended sharply lower despite reporting a 12% rise in annual new business profit, lifting dividend and announcing a $1.3 billion capital return in 2027.

United States
Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, largely offsetting the upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 dropping to nearly four-month lows. The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow plunged 768.11 points or 1.6 percent to 46,225.15, the Nasdaq tumbled 327.11 points or 1.5 percent to 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 slumped 91.39 points or 1.4 percent to 6,624.70. The Fed chief's remarks came after the central bank announced its decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50 to 3.75 percent after also leaving rates unchanged after its last meeting in January. Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plummeting by 6.4 percent to a two-month closing low. Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.0 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Telecom stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 2.7 percent. Housing, retail and pharmaceutical also showed notable moves to the downside, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Asia
East Asian stock markets are seeing a sharper decline on Thursday. Headwinds are coming from several directions: on the one hand, statements made by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) the previous evening are causing uncertainty, to which Wall Street had already reacted with losses. On the other hand, oil prices are rising sharply again, fuelling inflation fears. In Tokyo, the Topix 500 is down 2.5 per cent, whilst in Seoul the Kospi is falling by a similar margin following the previous day’s rally. In Shanghai, the market barometer is down 1.7 per cent, and in Hong Kong by 1.1 per cent. Sydney has already closed trading with a loss of 1.6 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved notably lower, partly offsetting the strength seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 5.7 basis points to 4.259 percent.

Analysis
UBS upgrades Georg Fischer to Neutral (Sell) – Target 44 (47) CHF
UBS downgrades Logitech to Neutral (Buy) – Target 80 (88) CHF
Vontobel upgrades Swiss Life to 865 (804) CHF – Hold

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