Walmart reported its smallest sales gain in more than six years as some Americans continue to spend cautiously—especially when shopping at the retailer’s physical stores. On Thursday, Walmart said U.S. comparable sales, those from store and digital channels operating for the past 12 months, rose 2.6%. That is the smallest quarterly increase the retailer has reported since 2020. The number was hurt by new pharmacy-pricing regulations, without which Walmart would have had a 3.4% lift, the company said. That is below analysts’ estimates of a 3.8% gain, according to FactSet. Walmart’s stock fell 9.2% to $103.84 Thursday, its biggest one-day drop in more than four years. Shares are down 23% from their record close, hit just three months ago. Walmart’s slower growth came as some consumers continue to watch their wallets amid higher gas prices and the company navigates a shift to sales growth driven by new channels—increasingly e-commerce, membership and advertising sales, not its core big-box base. It is a marked transition for the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer that still earns the bulk of its sales and profits from sprawling supercenters. Much of the growth came from a 24% increase in U.S. e-commerce sales, a figure that includes Walmart’s increasingly prominent advertising-revenue business. Walmart sells ads that run in its digital channels and stores.

The Swiss market ended marginally down on Thursday after spending almost the entire session in negative territory amid concerns about global economic growth due to Middle East tensions and elevated oil prices. The benchmark SMI ended down 18.42 points or 0.13% at 14,368.16 after moving between 14,284.06 and 14,410.36. Logitech International dropped nearly 5%. Helvetia Baloise Holding, Richemont, Swiss Re, Straumann Holding and Galderma Group lost 1%-1.6%. ABB shed nearly 1%. Sandoz Group, Sika, SGS, Novartis, VAT Group, Partners Group and Swiss Life Holding drifted down 0.5%-0.7%. Givaudan climbed more than 2%. Schindler Ps, Roche and Lonza Group moved up 1.1%-1.4%. Geberit gained nearly 1%. Julius Baer, Sonova, Kuehne + Nagel and Holcim posted modest gains. Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's foreign trade surplus grew notably in July as exports surged amid a fall in imports. The trade surplus rose to CHF 8.1 billion in July from CHF 3.8 billion in June. In real terms, exports logged a double-digit growth of 10.7% monthly in July, while imports dropped 2.8%. Exports of chemicals and pharmaceutical products advanced 21.6%, and those of metals and metal products rose by 5.8%. Meanwhile, the country imported 15.9% fewer jewelry items.

Europe
European stocks closed mostly weak on Thursday as oil prices rose sharply following the collapse of peace talks between Iran and the U.S. Data showing an increase in German producer price inflation in the month of July weighed as well on sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.12% down. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.42% and 0.57%, respectively. The UK's FTSE 100 edged up 0.04%, while Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.13%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Finland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Türkiye closed weak.

Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal and Sweden ended higher, while Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark and Netherlands closed flat. In the UK market, Weir climbed more than 4%. Fresnillo, BP, Endeavour Mining, Dieago, Croda International, British American Tobacco, Rio Tinto, Experian, The Sage Group, Relx and Hiscox gained 1%-2.7%. JD Sports Fashion fell 14.3% after reporting lower sales and cutting earnings outlook. The sportswear retailer said that its like-for-like sales decreased for the second quarter compared to the same period last year. Further the company cut its adjusted profit outlook for the second half of the year. Quarterly total sales were £3.08 million, a decrease of 1.3% in organic sales and 3.1% in like-for-like sales. Looking at the second half of the year, the company now expects profit before tax and adjusting items of £700 million to £800 million compared with the previous guidance of £750 million to £850 million. Investec dropped 4.6%. Legal & General ended nearly 4% down. Burberry Group, Convatec, Marks & Spencer, Barratt Redrow, IAG, Compass Group and Sainsbury (J) ost 2%-4%. In the German market, Qiagen gained more than 3%. Symrise climbed nearly 2%. Heidelberg Materials, Continental, E.ON, Beiersdorf and Infineon also closed notably higher. Adidas closed lower by more than 3%. MTU Aero Engines, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Telekom, Scout24, Brenntag, Siemens Energy, Deutsche Bank and Fresenius shed 0.9%-2%. In the French market, Eurofins Scientific jumped more than 3%. Michelin, Pernod Ricard, L'Oreal, TotalEnergies, Engie, Danone and Veolia Environment closed higher by 0.7%-1.1%. Stellantis, Kering, LVMH, Hermes International, Renault, ArcelorMittal, STMicroelectronics, Safran, Airbus, Thales, EssilorLuxottica, Teleperformance, AXA and Sanofi lost 1%-4%.

United States
U.S. stocks fell Thursday as the brief calm in the bond market evaporated. Treasury yields climbed back toward recent highs and weak results from Walmart raised fresh concerns about the health of American consumers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 700.84 points, or 1.32%, to 52759.21. The S&P 500 fell 66.82 points, or 0.87%, to 7641.16, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 263.92 points, or 1%, to 26067.17. According to preliminary data, there were 918 advancing issues and 1,809 declining issues on the NYSE. Home Depot fell 2.8% as the home-improvement retailer said shoppers were holding back on large renovations. Moderna fell 24% as investors cooled on Wednesday's historic rally, with analysts pointing to a short squeeze as a major driver of the original surge. Deere rose 6.9% after its quarterly profit topped expectations, helped by $110 million in tariff refunds and strong construction equipment sales. SpaceX fell 4% after CEO Elon Musk said the company's next Starship spacecraft "catch" attempt was still months away, disappointing investors who had expected it sooner.

Asia
East Asian stock markets shook off Wall Street’s negative lead on Friday and were mostly trading higher. The Topix in Tokyo rose by 0.1 per cent following the release of new inflation data. In July, consumer prices rose by 0.4 per cent month-on-month. According to market participants, this points to an interest rate rise by the Bank of Japan in September and is consequently dampening investor sentiment. However, such speculation is providing little support for the yen at present.

Bonds
Long-term Treasury yields erased most of Wednesday's drop after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's released bond buyback plans. Bessent emphasized that buybacks could exceed $4 billion per operation on CNBC on Thursday, saying the government has "a big toolkit" to bring down yields. Yields on U.S. Treasury bonds rose. The 10-year yield added 0.046 percentage points to 4.697%.

Analysis
UBS raises its Sonova target to CHF 273 (242) – Buy
UBS downgrades Aryzta to Sell (Buy) – target CHF 40 (70)
JPMorgan raises its Straumann target to CHF 136 (123) – Overweight


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