ABB’s first-quarter earnings increase exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the company said it intends to spin off its robotics division. The Swiss industrial-technology company said it achieved $1.10 billion in net profit for the first three months of the year, compared with $905 million a year prior, on revenue that grew 1% to $7.935 billion. The result compares with analysts’ expectations of $973 million in net profit from $8.16 billion in revenue, according to a company-provided consensus. The company said that all of its business areas outpaced its original expectations. ABB said separately Thursday that it plans to spin off its robotics division and for the business to begin trading during the second quarter of 2026. ABB said that should shareholders approve the move, the spinoff would be done through a share distribution. Shareholders would get shares in the company as a dividend in-kind in proportion to their existing shareholding. The robotics division employs about 7,000 people and generated $2.3 billion in revenue last year, about 7% of the group total.

The Switzerland market settled marginally down on Wednesday after languishing in negative territory right through the day's trading session. Renewed worries about trade tensions rendered the mood cautious, deterring investors from picking up stocks. The benchmark SMI closed down 11.22 points or 0.1% at 11,598.62, the day's high. The index touched a low of 11,470.70 around mid morning. VAT Group ended down 4.76%. Straumann Holding, Partners Group and Logitech International lost 2.5 to 2.8%. Kuehne + Nagel, SIG Group, Sika, Julius Baer, Adecco, Sandoz Group and UBS Group closed lower by 1 to 1.1.7%. Schindler Ps climbed 1.3%. Zurich Insurance, Lindt & Spruengli, Swisscom, Swiss Life Holding, Alcon and Nestle gained 0.4 to 1%.

Europe
European stocks recovered from early weakness and settled on a mixed note on Wednesday with investors largely making cautious moves amid renewed concerns about trade tensions following export restrictions on Nvidia's AI chips to China, and U.S. President Donald Trump's order for an investigation into potential tariffs on critical mineral imports. A profit warning by ASML, and Nvidia's announcement that it would incur $5.5 billion in charges due to new U.S. export controls also dampened investor sentiment. Meanwhile, markets awaited the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement on Thursday. The ECB is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.19%. France's CAC 40 edged down 0.07%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX climbed 0.32% and 0.27%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.1%. Among other markets in Europe, Italy, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended on firm note. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland and Norway edged up marginally. Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden and Turkiye closed on a weak note, while Greece and Poland ended marginally down. In the UK market, Endeavour Mining climbed nearly 6.5%. Shell, Associated British Foods, Barratt Redrow, Admiral Group, Persimmon, Fresnillo, Land Securities, BP, National Grid and Diageo gained 2 to 3%. Bunzl tanked 25.6% on weak results. The specialist distribution and services Group reported significantly lower adjusted operating profit in its first quarter, despite slightly higher revenues. The first-quarter profit was below expectations, and the company reduced its fiscal 2025 guidance. In its update on trading for the period since December 31, the company reported that Group revenue in the first quarter increased 0.8% on a reported basis and 2.6% at constant exchange rates. Meanwhile, underlying revenue declined 0.9%. Diploma, International Capital Group, Informa, Melrose Industries and JD Sports Fashion lost more than 3%. WH Smith shares ended nearly 1% down. The group posted a first-half loss before tax of 42 million pounds compared to profit of 28 million pounds, last year. Loss per share was 33.6 pence compared to profit of 13.0 pence.

United States
Stocks moved sharply lower early in the session on Wednesday and saw even further downside over the course of the trading day. The major averages all posted steep losses, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq under particularly heavy selling pressure. The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the end of the day but remained firmly negative. The Nasdaq plunged 516.01 points or 3.1 percent to 16,307.16, the S&P 500 tumbled 120.93 points or 2.2 percent to 5,275.70 and the Dow slumped 699.57 points or 1.7 percent to 39,669.39. The sell-off on Wall Street came amid a steep drop by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling plunging 6.9 percent on the day. The slump by Nvidia came after the company said its first quarter results are expected to include up to approximately $5.5 billion of charges associated with its H20 integrated circuits. Nvidia noted in an SEC filing that the U.S. government now requires a license for the export of the graphics processing units to China and other countries. Stocks saw further downside in afternoon trading following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell even though his comments largely mirrored those he delivered earlier this month. Powell highlighted the uncertainty surrounding Trump's tariffs but reiterated his belief that the Fed is well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to its policy stance. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing a sharp increase by retail sales in the month of March. Semiconductor stocks saw substantial weakness amid the slumps by Nvidia and ASML, resulting in a 4.1 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Considerable weakness also emerged among software stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent plunge by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Brokerage stocks also showed a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 2.3 percent.

Asia
The Asian markets shook off the weak US data in late trading on Thursday and were mostly up. They are thus following the US futures market, which is pointing to rising prices on Wall Street. In Japan, the Nikkei-225 rose by 0.7 per cent to 34,164 points in line with the headlines about the trade talks. The yen, recently sought after as a safe haven, fell in the morning on rising hopes of a solution to the tariff conflict, giving the Japanese stock market an additional boost.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved to the upside as the day progressed after initially showing a lack of direction. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell 4.4 basis points to 4.279 percent.

Analysis
Barclays lowers Lonza target to CHF 670 (710)/Overweight – Trader
Bank of America lowers OMV target to EUR 40 (42) – Neutral
Citi raises Moeller-Maersk to Neutral (Sell) – Target DKK 11,093 (9,500)