Fast-fashion giant Shein saw its stock plummet on its highly anticipated stock market debut, as regulatory headwinds and slowing sales weigh on a company once valued at $100 billion. The retailer’s stock fell as much as 10% in early trading in Hong Kong. Shein shares dropped to as low as 43.72 Hong Kong dollars on Tuesday before regaining ground to trade at 44.50 Hong Kong dollars, implying a market capitalization of approximately 24 billion U.S. dollars. The initial public offering (IPO) of the Chinese-based company, known for its trendy and ultra-cheap clothing, had been in the works for years. A series of regulatory hurdles, compounded by geopolitical tensions, hampered Shein’s operations and complicated its IPO efforts. Shein’s winding path to an IPO included attempts to list in New York and London, both of which failed. But even with this downwardly revised valuation, the IPO remains one of the largest in Hong Kong since the start of the year, trailing only tech names such as Nvidia supplier Zhongji Innolight and Apple supplier Luxshare Precision Industry.

The Swiss stock market ended weak on Monday, edging down steadily after a flat start as U.S. and Iran attacked each other, resulting in a surge in oil prices and triggering inflation and growth concerns. Switzerland's benchmark index SMI ended down 113.34 points or 0.79% at 14,286.43, slightly off the day's low or 14,270.46. Holcim shed 2.7% and Partners Group drifted lower by 2.2%. Kuehne + Nagel, Galderma Group, Roche, Sandoz Group, ABB, Geberit, Lonza Group, Richemont, Givaudan, Julius Baer and Amrize lost 1%-2%. Sonova, SGS, VAT Group, Logitech International, Schindler Ps, UBS Group, Sika and Swiss Re dropped 0.4%-1%. Alcon moved up 1.1%. Straumann Holding, Lindt & Spruengli and Nestle ended up by 0.75%, 0.5% and 0.25%, respectively.

Europe
European stocks closed lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns about inflation and global economic outlook, as oil prices moved up amid an escalation in tensions in the Middle East. Among the major markets, Germany and France ended notably lower with their benchmark indexes DAX and CAC 40 sliding 1.17% and 0.79%, respectively. The UK market was closed today for Bank Holiday. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.62% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak. Norway, Poland and Russia ended higher, while Ireland and Portugal closed flat. In the German market, Siemens Energy shed more than 5%. Rheinmetall, Heidelberg Materials and Vonovia closed lower by more than 3%. MTU Aero Engines, Hochtief, Adidas, Beiersdorf, Siemens, Infineon, Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Boerse and BMW shed 1%-2%. Zalando, Continental and Brenntag gained 1.8%-2%. BASF, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen posted modest gains. In the French market, Airbus, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Safran and Capgemini closed down by 2%-3%. Saint-Gobain, Unibail Rodamco, Edenred, STMicroelectronics, AXA, Dassault Systemes, LVMH, Vinci and L'Oreal lost 1%-1.9%. Pernod Ricard, Stellantis, Orange, TotalEnergies and Renault ended notably higher.

United States
U.S. stocks fell as renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz caused oil prices and long-term Treasury yields to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 374.09 points, or 0.70%, to 53185.90. The S&P 500 lost 25.62 points, or 0.33%, to 7686.14, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 31.53 points, or 0.12%, to 26370.89. High-momentum artificial-intelligence bets including chip makers and mega-cap tech stocks have stalled following a stellar earnings season. One strategist said they would remain under pressure until the next earnings season. Nvidia shares rose 1.4% to $220.50 after the AI chip maker said it plans to invest $3.5 billion in chip designer MediaTek, deepening their collaboration to build next-generation AI computing platforms. Amazon declined 2.5%, the most in more than a month, to $259.77. Deal activity intensified as investment bankers worked the weekend ahead of another "merger Monday." Aon agreed to buy rival insurance brokerage USI Insurance from investment firm KKR for roughly $17 billion, including debt. Oil-services giant SLB agreed to acquire thermal management company Kelvion from an investment consortium including Apollo Global Management for $4.1 billion. Kelvion is a major provider of critical cooling services for data centers. Eli Lilly agreed to buy biotech firm Merida Biosciences for up to $2.875 billion in cash, seeking to bulk up its immunology portfolio.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia are showing mixed performance on Tuesday. In Tokyo, the Topix is up 0.7 per cent, whilst the Kospi in Seoul, South Korea, is trading around its previous day’s closing level. South Korean exports rose by 68.7 per cent year-on-year in August, exceeding economists’ expectations.

Bonds
The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year U.S. Treasury was unchanged. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 0.036 percentage point to 4.757%. The 30-year bond yield gained 0.041 percentage point to 5.248.

Analysis
Vontobel downgrades Zurich Airport to CHF 260 (270) – Buy
Citi downgrades DSV to DKK 1,842 (1,860) – Buy


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