Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. for $72 billion after the entertainment company splits its studios and HBO Max streaming business from its cable networks, a deal that would reshape the entertainment and media industry. The cash-and-stock transaction was announced Friday after the two sides entered into exclusive negotiations for the media company known for Superman and the Harry Potter movies, as well as hit TV shows such as “Friends.” The offer is valued at $27.75 per Warner Discovery share and has an enterprise value of roughly $82.7 billion. Rival Paramount, which sought to buy the entire company, including Warner’s cable networks, bid $30 per share all-cash for Warner Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter. Paramount is weighing its next move, which could involve pivoting to other potential acquisitions, people familiar with its plans said. The transaction between Warner Bros. and Netflix is set to face scrutiny from lawmakers.

The Swiss market shrugged off a sluggish start and stayed fairly steady right till the end of the session on Friday to finish modestly higher. The benchmark SMI, which edged down to 12,866.86 in early trades, climbed to 12,961.10 before finally settling at 12,936.30, with a gain of 42.69 points or 0.33%. Amrize rallied 4.39% and UBS Group climbed 4.1%. Alcon gained about 3.1%, and Sika ended with a gain of 2.4%. Partners Group advanced nearly 2%. Julius Baer, Sandoz Group and Sonova gained 1.43%, 1.19% and 1.05%, respectively. Swiss Re tumbled 6.5% after the company outlined its updated strategy and financial targets for 2026, including a group net income goal of $4.5 billion and the planned introduction of a sustainable annual share buyback programme starting in 2026 at $500 million, contingent on meeting its 2025 earnings target. VAT Group closed lower by about 2.6%, while Lindt & Spruengli and Logitech International lost 1.44% and 1.27%, respectively. Lonza Group ended nearly 1% down. Data released by the Swiss National Bank showed the bank's foreign exchange reserves rose to CHF 727.39 billion in November, the highest value in nine months, compared to an upwardly revised CHF 724.9 billion in October.

Europa
Despite a fairly good spell in positive territory till noon, European stocks failed to sustain at higher levels and ended on a mixed note on Friday. Investors digested the economic data from the region as well from the U.S., and looked ahead to next week's monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.01%, The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down by 0.45%, and France's CAC 40 settled 0.09% down, while Germany's DAX climbed 0.61%. Switzerland's SMI climbed 0.31%. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Poland, Portugal and Spain ended weak, while Austria and Ireland closed flat. In the UK market, RightMove climbed 3.3%. JD Sports Fashion, Smith & Nephew and 3i Group gained 2.4 to 2.8%. ICG, Croda International, Burberry Group, WPP, Halma, Reckitt Benckiser, St. James's Place, Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc also ended notably higher. Smiths Group, Metlen Energy & Metals and BP lost 3.5%, 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively. LondonMetric Property, Severn Trent, Airtel Africa, Standard Chartered, Prudential, Imperial Brands, Vodafone Group and Shell lost 1.4 to 2%. In the German market, BMW rallied nearly 4%. Infineon climbed 2.8% and BASF closed up by about 2.3%. Mercedes-Benz, Siemens Healthineers, Siemens, Adidas, Porsche Automobil Holdings, Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines, Scout24, SAP and Deutsche Boerse also posted impressive gains. RWE, Hannover Rueck, E.ON, Bayer and Munich RE closed weak. In the French market, TP, Saint Gobain, Edenred, Stellantis and Hermes International climbed 2.3 to 3.2%. Accor, Capgemini, STMicroElectronics, Publicis Groupe and L'Oreal also ended notably higher. Orange, Societe Generale, TotalEnergies, Legrand, LVMH, Unibail Rodamco and Engie lost 1 to 2%.

Stati Uniti
After ending Thursday's choppy trading session little changed, stocks saw modest strength during trading on Friday. With the upward move, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in a month. The major averages gave back ground after an early advance but remained in positive territory. The Dow rose 104.05 points or 0.2 percent to 47,954.99, the Nasdaq climbed 72.99 point or 0.3 percent to 23,578.13 and the S&P 500 increased 13.28 points or 0.2 percent to 6,870.40. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced by 0.9 percent, the Dow climbed by 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 rose by 0.3 percent. The modest strength on Wall Street came following the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data that largely came in line with economist estimates. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed by 0.3 percent in September, matching the growth seen in August along with economist estimates. The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index ticked up to 2.8 percent in September from 2.7 percent in August, which was also in line with expectations. Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index rose by 0.2 percent in September, matching the increases seen in the two previous months as well as economist estimates. Computer hardware stocks extended the strong upward move seen during Thursday's session, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index climbing by 1.7 percent. Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Networking, semiconductor and software stocks also saw notable strength, while steel stocks showed a significant move to the downside.

Asia
There is no clear trend on the Asian stock markets at the start of the week. The Kospi in Seoul is recording the most significant gains, rising by 0.8 per cent. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.7 per cent, while the Hang Seng Index is down 1.1 per cent.

Obbligazioni
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended the downward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 3.1 basis points to 4.139 percent.

Analisi
UBS downgrades Michelin to Neutral (Buy) – Target price EUR 30 (33)
UBS upgrades Stellantis to Buy (Neutral) – Target price EUR 12 (8.30)
JPMorgan downgrades Salzgitter to Underweight (Neutral)

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