Shares of International Business Machines IBM spiked in May after the legacy tech giant unveiled an agreement with the U.S. government to build a standalone quantum chip foundry. On Wednesday, that industry first became a reality. Anderon, an IBM company, announced the finalization of a $1 billion award from the Commerce Department, structured as a research-and-development grant under the 2022 Chips and Science Act. IBM is the latest quantum developer to lock in a funding agreement with the government. Last week, Rigetti Computing (RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), and Quantinuum (QNT) each inked $100 million deals with the Department of Commerce in exchange for equity stakes in their businesses. The creation of Anderon underscores a broader federal effort to safeguard domestic supply chains. The Trump administration’s heavy-handed involvement in the quantum sector mirrors past intervention in semiconductors and critical minerals. IBM is the primary beneficiary of a $2 billion funding package first announced in May. The initiative includes deals with smaller pure-play quantum developers as well as a $375 million pact with chip maker GlobalFoundries (GFS) to create a business unit centered on domestic manufacturing.

After a flat start, Swiss stocks edged higher and stayed positive right through the trading session to settle on a firm note on Wednesday. A sharp drop in oil prices and lower bond yields helped lift sentiment. Investors awaited the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 59.79 points or 0.43% at 13,868.66. VAT Group climbed nearly 3%. ABB ended 2.1% up. Sonova and Sika moved up 1.85% and 1.7%, respectively. Swiss Life Holding, Helvetia Baloise Holding, Givaudan, Amrize, Holcim, Roche Holding, Galderma Group, SGS and Zurich Insurance gained 0.4%-1.05%. Partners Group, Straumann Holding, Swiss Re and Kuehne + Nagel shed 0.4%-1%.

Europe
European stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday as weak oil prices and lower bond yields helped lift sentiment. Investors digested the latest batch of regional economic data and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due later in the day. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.46%. The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.28%, 0.53% and 0.62%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.43% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Russia and Türkiye closed weak, while Iceland and Netherlands ended flat. In the UK market, shares from financials and mining sectors had a good outing. Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays Group and Natwest moved notably higher. Miners Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Endeavour Mining and Anglo American Plc posted strong gains. Barratt Redrow soared 11.7% on reporting higher profit for fiscal 2026, mainly helped by revenue growth. Profit before tax from continuing operations rose to £363.5 million from £273.7 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £525 million from £521.9 million a year ago. Operating profit increased to £444.3 million from £285.5 million last year. Adjusted operating profit grew to £550.3 million from £500.1 million. Persimmon climbed 5.8%. Burberry Group, SSE, Babcock International, 3i Group, Tritax Big Box REIT, Centrica, IAG, Howden Joinery Group, Kingfisher, Melrose Industries, United Utilities Group, National Grid, Legal & General and Severn Trent gained 2%-3.4%.

United States
U.S. stocks fell and Treasury yields hit more multiyear highs after the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in more than three years. Shares of technology companies steadied near the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 631.21 points, or 1.21%, to 51461.90, and is now down 5.3% from its record high. The S&P 500 fell 33.92 points, or 0.45%, to 7551.81 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 3.15 points, or 0.01%, to 25978.42. The Federal Reserve hiked rates by a quarter-of-a-percentage point to a range between 3.75% and 4% on Wednesday, the first increase since 2023. At the press conference following the decision, Chairman Kevin Warsh refused to say how many more rate hikes might be required to bring inflation back to the Fed's 2% target. Tech stocks were relatively flat amid new financial developments in the artificial-intelligence sector. OpenAI held early discussions with investors about a new funding round that could value it at more than $1.2 trillion. Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk and Anthropic struck a partnership deal to deploy the Claude AI model with the aim of accelerating the development of new medicines. Shares of Novo fell 1.9% to $41.71. Reckitt Benckiser, the British maker of medical and hygiene products such as Mucinex and Lysol, plans to expand U.S. product development and manufacturing to respond more quickly to shifts in consumer demand.

Asia
There is no clear trend on the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Thursday. Whilst the stock markets in Tokyo, South Korea and Sydney, for example, are benefiting from the renewed fall in oil prices, share prices on the Chinese stock markets are falling. Market participants point to the recent, largely weak Chinese economic data. The Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.4 per cent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is down by 0.8 per cent.

Bonds
The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year U.S. Treasury rose 0.065 percentage point to 4.725%, the highest close since July 2024. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 0.008 percentage point to 5.003%, a 19-year high. The yield on the 30-year bond declined 0.017 percentage point to 5.346%.

Analysis
UBS lowers its Ypsomed target price to CHF 392 (400) – Neutral
UBS lowers its AstraZeneca target price to 15,200 (17,600) p – Buy
JPM upgrades Soitec to Overweight (Neutral) – target price EUR 200 (98)


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