Advanced Micro Devices AMD agreed to acquire artificial-intelligence research firm World Labs in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.2 billion, an acquisition that reflects chip makers’ ambitions to control more of the AI stack. AMD, a semiconductor company that recently touched a $1 trillion valuation, said the deal would bring leading AI research and development talent and help the company develop better AI hardware, software and systems, especially in the growing field of physical AI and robotics. World Labs focuses on spatially intelligent AI models that can generate and simulate interactive 3-D environments. The company was co-founded and is led by Fei-Fei Li, a computer-vision pioneer and professor of computer science at Stanford University. Li is joining AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist. “Fei-Fei and the World Labs team bring exceptional research leadership and model expertise,” AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su said. “Together, we can use that insight to develop the hardware, software and systems that will power the next generation of AI and strengthen the open AI ecosystem.” World Labs will continue its AI research efforts at AMD, the chip maker said.

The Swiss market ended flat on Monday despite starting on a firm note and holding in positive territory till about late morning and seeing a modest spell above the flat line in the penultimate hour. The benchmark SMI settled at 13,942.91, down 2.80 points or 0.02%. The index touched a high of 14,083.11 and a low of 13,937.42 in the session. Sonova climbed about 3.75% and Lonza Group ended up with 2.65%. Sika (1.37%), Novartis (1.34%) and Sandoz Group (1.07%) also closed with impressive gains. Geberit, Swiss Re, Alcon, Holcim, Richemont and Julius Baer posted modest gains. Swisscom ended 2.7% down. Helvetia Baloise Holding drifted lower by about 2.1%. Logitech International, Roche, Straumann Holding, Givaudan, UBS Group, Galderma Group, Zurich Insurance and ABB also ended weak.

Europe
The major European markets ended little changed on Monday as investors made cautious moves as oil prices climbed higher, fueling concerns about inflation and interest rates. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended flat. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX edged down 0.1% and 0.13%, respectively. France's CAC 40 crept up 0.01%. Other markets in Europe closed mixed. Austria, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway ended higher. Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak, while Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Portugal ended flat. In the UK market, shares of homebuilders skyrocketed after the UK government said it would unveil a schemed to help first-time home buyers in the upcoming budget. Barratt Redrow soared nearly 12%. Taylor Wimpey zoomed 11.5% and Persimmon jumped nearly 15%., Howden Joinery Group moved up by a little over 3%. Airtel Africa and JD Sports Fashion gained 2.35% and 2.2%, respectively. Intercontinental Hotels Group, Kingfisher, Spirax Group, Convatec Group, Shell, Tesco, British American Tobacco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, BP and Games Workshop also ended notably higher. Miners shed ground as metal prices fell. Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining lost 5.1% and 4.4%, respectively. Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc and Glencore shed 1.7%-2%, which Rio Tinto closed modestly lower. Experian closed down 3.6%. Pershing Square Holdings, Polar Capital Technology Trust, The Sage Group, Coca-Cola HBC and Relx also ended notably lower. Ladbrokes owner Entain dropped 5% after cutting its revenue outlook following Brazil's executive-order ban on line sports betting and gaming. West Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil tumbled more than 3% after widening its first-half net loss due to higher refinancing costs. The stock recovered some ground subsequently and was down by about 1.4% at close.

United States
U.S. stocks started the week on a down note following the latest setback for peace talks in the Middle East and a deepening of last week's selloff in U.S. Treasurys. The S&P 500 fell 59.7 points, or 0.77%, to 7683.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 347.1 points, or 0.67%, to 51481.51. The Nasdaq Composite was down 248.3 points, or 0.92%, to 26820.38. Chipmaker Nvidia raised its buyback program by $150 billion, bringing the total buyback authorization to $235 billion, lifting its stock by 1.7% to $228.86. The authorization eclipses the $110 billion stock buyback that Apple unveiled in May 2024 and comes just four months after Nvidia's board added $80 billion to the buyback program. Research leaders at Meta Platforms and Microsoft joined OpenAI and Anthropic in calling for Washington to investigate artificial-intelligence systems that are able to autonomously self-improve. Meta shares fell 4.8% to $715.62 and Microsoft shares slid 1.3% to $509.22. Shares of MongoDB fell 18% after the database company said its president and CEO had stepped down to lead a new business segment at Meta Platforms. SpaceX's Starship entered orbit for the first time and deployed the latest version of its Starlink satellites, critical steps in the company's push for the experimental rocket to handle a range of missions.

Asia
Asian stock markets are following Wall Street’s lead on Tuesday and are mostly falling. In Tokyo, the Topix is down 1.9 per cent, whilst the Kospi in Seoul has lost 1.1 per cent. In Hong Kong, the HSI has got off lightly with a slightly smaller fall of 0.6 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. treasury yields posted a fresh round of multiyear highs. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed to 5.241%, inching higher to levels not seen since 2007, while the 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.561%, its highest rate since 2002. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.922%, a level last seen in May 2024.

Analysis
UBS upgrades Tecan to CHF 255 (222) – Buy
UBS upgrades ASM International to EUR 1,325 (1,275) – Buy
JPMorgan downgrades Renk to EUR 62 (75) – Overweight


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