Walmart shares advanced 3%, after the retail giant said the holiday shopping season had started strongly, and it lifted full-year financial targets. Walmart executives explained they are watching potential policy moves by the incoming Trump administration, particularly on import taxes. The retailer said it is importing some products early in case of new tariffs or potential port strikes in January. U.S. comparable sales, those from stores and digital channels in operation for at least 12 months, rose 5.3% for the quarter ended Oct. 25, driven by broad demand for its goods and market share gains across economic groups, including higher-income households. Analysts were expecting about 3.9% growth, according to FactSet. The retailer said profit increased in the most recent quarter, helped by fewer discounts, lower e-commerce delivery costs and higher revenue from advertising. Adjusted earnings were 58 cents a share, better than the FactSet analysts’ estimate of 53 cents. Global e-commerce sales rose 27% from the same period last year and now account for 18% of global revenue. Walmart raised its forecast for comparable sales growth for its fiscal year and for adjusted earnings. Executives now expect comparable sales growth of 4.8% to 5.1% for the year, up from its prior forecast of 3.75% to 4.75%. They said most customers are sticking with their holiday spending plans despite any concerns about the election and economic outlook.

The Swiss stock market ended trading on Tuesday with significant losses. The SMI shed 0.8 per cent to 11,541 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 15 losers and 4 gainers, while Kühne & Nagel closed unchanged. A total of 21.49 (previously: 16.86) million shares were traded. On the corporate side, the focus was on the shares of heavyweight Nestlé (-1.9%). The food giant intends to accelerate its growth in the coming years with higher investments in its successful brands as well as in advertising and marketing activities. In order to finance the higher investments, at least CHF 2.5 billion more is to be saved by the end of 2027 than previously planned, the Group revealed at its Capital Markets Day. However, the outlook for the coming year has been downgraded. The shares of the pharmaceutical giants also declined. While Novartis only lost 0.2 per cent, Roche shares fell significantly by 1.2 per cent. The shares of watch manufacturers Swatch (-2.2%) and Richemont (-1.9%) were weighed down by new data on watch exports, which once again decreased in October. Business in China in particular remained weak. Following the presentation of figures for the first half of the 2024/25 financial year, Sonova plummeted by 5.2 per cent.

Europe
European shares retreated on Tuesday following reports that Vladimir Putin approved a change to the country's nuclear doctrine. The move would allow a Russian nuclear response to conventional weapon usage and comes after the U.S. approved the use of its weapons by Ukraine against Russian targets, following North Korean troops being brought into the conflict. Hargreaves Lansdown said confidence in U.K. and European equities fell in November with investors more confident in Asia-Pacific and North America. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 0.5% at 500.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were each down 0.7%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 also lost 0.7%, while the FTSE 100 shed 0.1% in London. Automotive supplier OPmobility fell by 6.9% to €8.21. Bernstein began monitoring the stock with an ‘underperform’ recommendation and a target price of €7.20. Spie dropped 4.6% after Bpifrance announced that it had sold 4.2 million shares in the electrical and mechanical engineering specialist, representing around 2.5% of the capital. Defense groups Thales (+1.7%) and Dassault Aviation (+1.9%) were in demand due to escalating tensions in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

United States
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1% on Tuesday, lifted by gains in investor darling Nvidia, after shrugging off losses earlier in the day. Nvidia rallied 4.9% as investors looked forward to the chipmaker’s latest quarterly earnings report on Wednesday. Meanwhile, U.S. housing starts tumbled, notching a steeper-than-expected monthly drop of 3.1%, new data showed. Hurricanes likely played a role in suppressing construction activity. The S&P 500 added 0.4%. The Dow industrials fell 0.3%, or 120.66 points. Bitcoin touched a new all-time high of about $94,000, before slipping to around $92,600. It has been on a tear as cryptocurrency investors expect friendly policies from President-elect Donald Trump. Lowe's fell by 4.6% after its quarterly results failed to reassure investors, while the group continues to face weak demand in its DIY shops due to the downturn in the property market. The group slightly raised its profit forecast for the year, to a mid-range figure of 11.85 dollars per share, compared with 11.80 dollars previously. Alphabet (+1.6%), Google's parent company, fell back as the US Department of Justice prepared to ask a judge to consider dismantling the search engine's activities. Super Micro Computer (+31%) surged after appointing an independent auditor and submitting a plan to Nasdaq to comply with its listing rules. Symbotic (+27.7%) posted a profit in the fourth quarter of its last financial year, on the back of a 19% rise in sales. The robotics company expects its strong business growth to continue in the current quarter.

Asia
Asian and Australian stocks were mixed on Wednesday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3 per cent to 38,309 points, while Hong Kong (-0.1%) and Sydney (-0.6%), where the index had risen surprisingly sharply the previous day, also fell. Meanwhile, gains of 0.6 per cent each were seen in Seoul and Shanghai. Chip stocks such as SK Hynix and Hanmi Semiconductor are rising in Seoul following Nvidia's almost 5 per cent gain on the Nasdaq.

Bonds
Treasury yields fell Tuesday morning, with traders seeking the safety of U.S. government debt, after the Kremlin revised its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons in response to a missile strike by Ukraine. Separately, market participants were also weighing media reports about the race to become President-elect Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary, with former Federal Reserve Gov. Kevin Warsh said to be one of the people gaining an edge. The 10-year Treasury note yield dropped 2 basis points to 4.399%. The 2-year Treasury note yield gave up 2 basis points to 4.392%.

Analysis
Price target Alcon: Deutsche Bank downgrades to CHF 82 (85) - Buy
Target price Zurich Insurance: HSBC raises to CHF 540 (525) - Hold
Target price Georg Fischer: UBS upgrades to CHF 82 (75) - Buy

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