Swiss skincare retailer Galderma Group plans to raise about $2.3 billion in what would be this year's largest initial public offering so far, and another key test of public investors' appetite for private equity-backed companies. Galderma, which is backed by European buyout firm EQT among other investors, launched the IPO Wednesday and aims to list on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Zug, Switzerland-based company didnt disclose the expected timing of the listing, but institutional investors said they anticipate it happening by the end of the month. The IPO would be the largest in 2024 so far, surpassing the $1.6 billion U.S. issue from Amer Sports, the Chinese-backed owner of Wilson and Salomon sporting brands, according to Dealogic. It would also eclipse the planned IPO announced Monday by Douglas Group, a German cosmetics retailer backed by EQT rival CVC Capital Partners. PE firms struggled last year to sell business outright or through IPOs because of jittery equity markets and higher interest rates. That crimped their ability to return cash to investors and raise new funds, eating into their lucrative source of management fee income.

After a flat start, Swiss stocks moved higher and stayed firm right till the end of day's session on Wednesday, tracking positive global cues and on hopes global central banks will start cutting interest rates in the second quarter. The benchmark SMI, which opened at 11,463.01, ended with a gain of 82.73 points or 0.72% at 11,546.47, the day's high. Logitech International rallied about 3.75%. Givaudan, Partners Group and Geberit gained 1.4 to 1.65%. Nestle, Sika, Kuehne & Nagel, Alcon, UBS Group, Zurich Insurance Group, ABB and Swiss Re advanced 0.75 to 1%. Lonza Group and Holcim edged down marginally, and Richemont settled flat. In the Mid Price Index, Belimo Holding gained about 3.5%. VAT Group climbed 3.2%, while Meyer Burger Tech and Avolta gained about 3% and 2.8%, respectively. Lindt & Spruengli gained about 2%. Straumann Holding, Georg Fischer, Sandoz, ams OSRAM AG and Tecan Group ended higher by 1.5 to 1.85%. Julius Baer gained nearly 1%. Flughafen Zurich ended down 1.74%. Galenica Sante and Swatch Group lost 1% and 0.9%, respectively.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Wednesday with investors assessing U.K.'s spring budget, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony. Markets also digested a slew of regional economic data, and awaited the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, due on Thursday. British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced plans for permanent tax cuts due to slowing inflation. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts inflation to dip below the Bank of England's target in the coming months, and has revised upwards the nation's growth forecast. The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.39%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.43%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.1% and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.28%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.72% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher. Denmark, Iceland and Turkiye closed weak, while Norway and Finland ended flat. In the UK market, Convatec Group gained more than 5%. Anglo American Plc, Weir Holdings, Smith & Nephew, Endeavour Mining, LSE, Experian, Tesco, BP, Centrica, B&M European Value Retail, Royal Dutch Shell and Flutter Entertainment gained 1.5 to 3.4%. Rentokil Initial, Lloyds Banking, Scottish Mortgage, Kingfisher, Rio Tinto, Land Securities, RS Group, IMI and Halma advanced 1 to 1.4%. Fresnillo tumbled about 4%. Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Smurfit Kappa Group, Ocado Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Diageo, Coca-Cola, Standard Chartered, Antofagasta and Admiral lost 1 to 2.5%. Legal & General ended more than 1% down after posting flat operating profit for 2023. In the German market, Symrise rallied more than 6%. The maker of flavors and fragrances gained after its 2023 core profit beat estimates. Zalando, Bayer and BASF gained 2.7 to 3.4%. BASF surged after the company said it is changing the name of two dispersions plants in China. Infineon, Sartorius, Siemens Energy and SAP also ended notably higher. Deutsche Post dropped more than 6% after a warning that earnings could remain relatively flat this year.

United States
Following a notable pullback to start the week, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day but remain well off their recent record highs. The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Nasdaq climbed 91.95 points or 0.6 percent to 16,031.54, the S&P 500 rose 26.1 points or 0.5 percent to 5,104.76 and the Dow edged up 75.86 points or 0.2 percent to 38,661.05. The rebound on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell told the House Financial Services Committee it will likely be appropriate for the Fed to begin lowering interest rates at 'some point this year,' although he reiterated officials need 'greater confidence' inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent. The Fed Chief described the economic outlook as 'uncertain' and said progress towards the Fed's 2 percent inflation objective is 'not assured.' Semiconductor stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.4 percent to a record closing high. Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. The index also reached a record closing high. Airline and networking stocks also moved to the upside on the day, while banking stocks gave back ground after turning in a strong performance on Tuesday.

Asia
The Asian stock markets were mixed within narrow limits on Thursday. Only the Japanese market showed stronger swings: after a firmer opening, the Nikkei fell sharply and was no longer able to defend the 40,000 mark. It fell by 0.9 per cent to 39,736 points. The stock markets in China are little changed - despite strong foreign trade figures. China's exports rose by 7.1 per cent in the period from January to February, more than the 2.3 per cent increase in December and also much more than expected at 3.0 per cent. Imports grew by 3.5 per cent, which was also more than the forecast increase of 2.2 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended the strong upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.3 basis points to a one-month closing low of 4.104 percent.

Analysis
Barclays lowers Bayer to EUR 28 (30) – Equalweight
UBS raises Thales to EUR 125 (115) – Sell
HSBC raises Belimo to Buy (Hold) – CHF 540 (476)

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.