French distiller Pernod Ricard expects sales trends to improve in the second half of fiscal 2026 as it works through inventory destocking in the U.S. and tackles weak consumer demand in China. The maker of Absolut vodka and Jameson whiskey on Thursday flagged a slow start to what it described as a year of transition. The company forecasts a decline in sales for the July to September quarter due to U.S. and China headwinds as well as in India—now its second largest market—, where sales will be dented by a liquor policy change in the Maharashtra state. Finance Chief Helene de Tissot said in a call with analysts that the first-quarter softness could be slightly worse than last year, for which it reported a 5.9% slip in quarterly sales. Like its peers, the group has been facing tough business conditions in key markets as the spirits industry deals with a downturn in consumer demand. Pernod Ricard has also been reeling from a trade spat between China and the European Union and grappling with uncertainty around U.S. tariffs which led distributors to pile up stock in anticipation of higher levies.

The Swiss market ended marginally up on Thursday after a choppy ride as stocks swung between gains and losses right through the day's trading session. The benchmark SMI closed up by 12.08 points or 0.1% at 12,219.20. The index, which advanced to 12,253.69 around mid morning, touched a low 12,169.97 about an hour past noon. Richemont climbed about 1.7%. Logitech International gained 1.25%. ABB, Nestle, Sonova, Holcim, UBS Group,Sika, SIG Group and Adecco ended higher by 0.31% to 1.1%. Swisscom and Alcon closed down by 2.87% and 2.72%, respectively. Swatch Group drifted down by 1.8%. Kuehne + Nagel ended 1.34% down. Geberit, VAT Group, Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding, Lonza Group and Novartis lost 0.4 to 0.8%. In economic news, the Swiss economy expanded modestly in the second quarter, as estimated earlier, and higher U.S. tariffs are set to push down growth prospects, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said. Gross domestic product grew 0.1% from the first quarter, unchanged from the flash estimate. Growth softened notably from 0.7% in the first quarter. Industrial value added and exports declined sharply, while the service sector supported broad based growth in the second quarter, the SECO said. On a yearly basis, economic growth eased to 1.6% from 2% in the first quarter. A measure signaling future turning points in the Swiss economy decreased more than expected in August, the results of a survey by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed.

Europe
European stocks closed lower on Thursday as the mood remained largely cautious with investors closely following geopolitical news, digesting tech giant Nvidia's earnings, and some crucial economic data from the U.S. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.2%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 0.42% down, and Germany's DAX edged down 0.03%. France's CAC 40 gained 0.24%. Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal ended higher. Denmark, Ireland and Spain closed higher, while Russia, Sweden and Turkiye ended flat. In the UK market, Anglo American Plc and JD Sports Fashion closed higher by about 3% and 2.8%, respectively. Weir Group, Rio Tinto, DCC, EasyJet, Antofagasta, Spirax Group and Pershing Square Holdings also ended notably higher. Aviva ended down 3.1%. Land Securities, Endeavour Mining, Relx, LondonMetric Property, British American Tobacco, Auto Trader Group, Centrica, Natwest Group, Next and Coca-Cola HBC lost 1 to 2.2%. In the German market, Siemens, Sartorius, Siemens Energy and Infineon gained 1 to 1.7%. Automotive supplier Continental climbed 1.7% after announcing the sale of its ContiTech business area Original Equipment Solutions to Regent. Shares of electrolysis specialist Thyssenkrupp Nucera jumped nearly 3% after Australia's Progressive Green Solutions selected it as the preferred supplier of 1.4 GW electrolyzers for the Mid-West Green Iron project. Qiagen lost about 4.25%. Vonovia closed 2.3% down. Bayer, E.ON, RWE and Deutsche Telekom also ended notably lower.

United States
After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages added to the gains posted in the two previous sessions, with the S&P 500 reaching another new record closing high. The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. Nasdaq climbed 115.02 points or 0.5 percent to 21,705.16, the S&P 500 rose 20.46 points or 0.3 percent to 6,501.86 and the Dow edged up 71.67 points or 0.2 percent to 45,636.90. The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader reporting reported second quarter results that largely exceeded expectations but data center sales that came in below estimates While shares of Nvidia ended the day down by 0.8 percent, the company's stock climbed well off its early lows, contributing the advance by the broader markets. Investors were also looking ahead to Friday's release of the Commerce Department's on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation. The report, which is expected to show an uptick in the annual rate of core consumer price growth to 2.9 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates. While most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, computer hardware stocks moved sharply higher, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 4.4 percent to a record closing high. Pure Storage (PSTG) helped lead the sector higher, skyrocketing by 32.3 percent after reporting better than expected second quarter results and raising its full-year guidance.

Asia
On Friday, stock markets in Asia and Australia showed mixed results within narrow ranges. Shenzhen saw particularly strong gains of 0.9 per cent, followed by Hong Kong with a rise of 0.6 per cent. Investors are eagerly awaiting Alibaba's quarterly figures.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended the upward move seen over the two previous sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.1 basis points to 4.207 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America raises Accelleron to CHF 80 (70) – Buy
UBS lowers VAT Group target to CHF 285 (320) – Neutral
Morgan Stanley raises Santander to EUR 9.50 (8.30) – Overweight