GameStop submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of eBay Inc. at $125.00 per share in cash and stock. The offer represents a 46% premium to eBay's unaffected closing price on February 4, 2026, the day GameStop started accumulating its position in eBay. GameStop has built a 5% economic stake in eBay through derivatives and beneficial ownership of common stock. The proposed offer is $125.00 per share, comprising 50% cash and 50% GameStop common stock, with full shareholder election rights as to consideration type and pro-rata allocation. Aggregate undiluted equity value is approximately $55.5 billion, based on eBay's most recently disclosed undiluted share count, representing a 27% premium to the 30-day VWAP and a 36% premium to the 90-day VWAP. The transaction is conditioned on customary closing conditions.

After opening weak and languishing in negative territory till a little before noon, the Switzerland stock market slowly gained in strength on Thursday to eventually end the session on a firm note. Investors continued to closely follow the developments on the geopolitical front, in addition to tracking the monetary policy moves by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The benchmark SMI, which slipped to 12,940.51 in early trades, ended the day with a gain of 104.37 points or 0.8% at 13,136.27 slightly off the session's high of 13,147.61. Galderma Group climbed nearly 3%. ABB, Novartis, Julius Baer and Sandoz Group gained 2%-2.3%. Richemont and Swisscom moved up 1.75% and 1.61%, respectively. Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance Group, Lonza Group, Schindler Ps and Swiss Life Holding gained 1%-1.3%. Amrize dropped 5.77%. Straumann Holding fell 3.3%. In economic news, Switzerland's KOF Economic Barometer climbed to 97.9 in April, up from a nine-month low of 95.6 in March and exceeding market expectations of 95.9, a report from Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) showed.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Thursday with investors reacting to a slew of earnings announcements and economic data from the region and digested the monetary policy decisions of the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Concerns about U.S.-Iran tensions continued to weigh, limiting markets' upside. The ECB and BoE both decided to leave their interest rates unchanged. The Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged but cautioned that there is a risk of material second-round effects from the energy price shock, caused by the war in the Middle East, which could lead to future rate hikes. The BoE Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Andrew Bailey, voted 8-1 to hold the bank rate at 3.75%. The European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged, as expected, even as policymakers expressed increasing concern over the impact of the surging energy prices and the intensifying war in the Middle East. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.38%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended stronger by 1.62%, Germany's DAX jumped 1.41% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.53%. Switzerland's SMI settled with a gain of 0.8%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed higher. Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland and Poland ended weak. In the UK market, United Utilities soared 11% after the company reported stronger than expected annual results, expanded its investment programme, and launched a GBP800 million equity raise to meet its investment objectives. Rolls-Royce Holdings jumped 7.6%. The engineering company said it was confident on meeting annual forecasts despite the disruption caused by the Middle East conflict. Persimmon gained nearly 3% after keeping its 2026 delivery and profit targets steady. In the German market, Deutsche Post climbed about 7.5%. Bayer moved up nearly 4.5% and Brenntag gained 4%. Siemens Energy, Siemens Healthineers, E.ON, Infineon, Siemens, RWE, Daimler Truck Holding, Merck, Qiagen, Mercedes-Benz and Fresenius Medical Care gained 1.5%-3%. MTU Aero Engine gained nearly 3%. The company's bottom line totaled EUR200 million, or EUR3.59 per share. This compares with EUR224 million, or EUR4.03 per share, last year.

United States
After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow sliding into negative territory. The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 152.87 points or 0.3 percent to 49,499.27, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points or 0.3 percent to 7,320.12 and the Nasdaq advanced 222.13 points or 0.9 percent to 25,144.44. Despite pulling back off their best levels of the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 still finished the session at new record closing highs. The major averages also moved to the upside for the week. The Nasdaq jumped by 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 climbed by 0.9 percent and the Dow increased by 0.6 percent. The early strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp increase by shares of Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant surging by 3.3 percent. Apple nearly reached the record intraday high set last December after reporting better than expected fiscal second quarter results and forecasting revenues for the current quarter above analyst estimates. Buying interest was also generated in reaction to an extended pullback by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures tumbling by nearly 3 percent. U.S. crude oil futures showed a significant downturn on Thursday, slumping by 1.7 percent after reaching their highest levels in four years. Computer hardware and software stocks saw substantial strength on the day, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Reflecting the strength in the sectors, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index both surged by 2.5 percent. Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. On the other hand, brokerage stocks showed a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 1.9 percent.

Asia
Stock markets in East Asia are mostly showing gains on Monday. Following the closure of markets in China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong on Friday 1 May, trading in China is suspended at the start of the new week and markets in Tokyo are closed for a public holiday.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries saw modest strength, extending the rebound seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.2 basis points to 4.378 percent.

Analysis
HSBC raises Adidas target to EUR 180 (175) – Buy
Berenberg raises Jenoptik target to EUR 39 (32) – Buy
Berenberg lowers Unilever target to GBP 50.40 (58.40) – Hold

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