U.K. antitrust officials said Alphabet’s Google (-4%) might be stifling competition by favoring its own ad tech services that advertisers and publishers use to bid for and sell advertising space, adding to growing regulatory scrutiny as the search engine giant faces similar probes elsewhere in Europe and the U.S. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority said a preliminary investigation had found that most publishers and advertisers use Google’s ad tech services and officials are concerned the company is leveraging its position to favor its own services, preventing rivals from competing on a level playing field to provide publishers and advertisers with alternatives. “We’ve provisionally found that Google is using its market power to hinder competition when it comes to the ads people see on websites,” said Juliette Enser, interim executive director of enforcement at the CMA.

The Swiss stock market headed into the weekend on a weaker note. The SMI lost 1 per cent to 11,908 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, 18 recorded price losses. The only winners were Givaudan (+1%) and Lonza (+0.5%). A total of 21.67 (previously: 18.21) million shares were traded. Nestlé lost 1.1 per cent, Novartis 0.3 per cent and Roche 0.7 per cent. Economic cyclicals recorded more significant losses: ABB fell by 2.5 per cent and Kühne & Nagel by 1.6 per cent. Richemont shares were once again at the top of the sales lists, having been weighed down for days by doubts about a recovery in the Chinese consumer market, a key market for the luxury goods group, and now shed a further 2.6 per cent. Among the small caps, Basilea Pharmaceutica rose by 1.6 per cent. The company received a milestone payment of 25 million dollars from Pfizer.

Europe
The European stock markets closed sharply lower on Friday following the publication of a mixed monthly employment report in the United States. The Stoxx Europe 600 index shed 1.1% to 506.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 also lost 1.1%. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 1.5% and the FTSE 100 in London slipped 0.7%. Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 suffered losses of 3.5%. Elis plunged 15.7% as the industrial laundry group confirmed that it was discussing a takeover of US group Vestis (down 4.3% on the New York Stock Exchange), a specialist in the rental of uniforms and accessories to companies. Investors are concerned about the impact that such a transaction, potentially worth 3.3 billion dollars including debt, would have on Elis's balance sheet. It would be the largest acquisition in the group's history since it bought UK rival Berendsen in 2017. The petroleum products distribution and storage group Rubis (-10.9%) saw its results fall sharply in the first half of 2024. Affected by an increase in financial charges and by the level of investments made in the renewable energy sector, Rubis' net profit came to €130 million between January and June this year, down 24% compared with the same period in 2023. Airbus (-2.6%) delivered 47 aircraft and received 46 orders in August 2024. In the first eight months of the year, the aerospace and defence group delivered 447 aircraft. It is still forecasting around 770 deliveries for the full year.

United States
Stock indexes posted steep weekly losses after weaker-than-expected data reignited fears about the health of the U.S. economy. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 5.8% on the week, its worst performance since January 2022. The S&P 500 fell 4.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 2.9% lower. All three major indexes extended their losses Friday. Many of the highflying artificial-intelligence related stocks that have powered stock indexes higher this year were among the hardest hit this week. Nvidia dropped 14%, erasing a staggering $406 billion of market capitalisation. It was the largest weekly market value loss from a single company ever, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Competitor Broadcom offered a worse-than-expected revenue forecast when it reported earnings Friday morning, sending both its and Nvidia’s shares down sharply. Broadcom was the S&P 500’s worst performer, closing down 10%. Investors and analysts cautioned that while this week’s selloff was significant, it comes in the context of a very strong year for stocks, which still appear historically expensive. The S&P 500 remains up 13% for the year.

Asia
Stocks in Asia mostly fell at the start of the new week. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index continued its losing streak and fell by 1.2 per cent to 35,950 points after the Japanese gross domestic product for the second calendar quarter was revised downwards. Technology stocks are at the top of the sell-off lists. Sony fell by 2.3 per cent and Advantest by 2.7 per cent. Softbank Group dropped by 1.2 per cent. Seven & i meanwhile gained 2.6 per cent. After the Japanese company rejected the takeover bid from Canadian supermarket group Alimentation Couche Tard, the Canadians have shown a willingness to work out solutions to allay the concerns of the operator of the 7-Eleven stores. In Shanghai, the composite index lost 0.9 per cent. Chinese consumer prices rose slightly less than economists had estimated in August, while producer prices fell for the 23rd consecutive month. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is down 2 per cent. On the Seoul stock exchange, the Kospi fell by 0.4 per cent. The share prices of chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shed 2.3 and 1.3 per cent respectively.

Bonds
U.S. Treasury yields finished broadly lower on Friday after August’s nonfarm payrolls report came in below expectations and a key Federal Reserve official said he is open to the possibility of bigger-than-usual rate cuts. The 10-year Treasury note yield fell by 1 basis point to 3.723%, while 2-year Treasury note yield dropped by 9 basis points to 3.663%, after plummeting by almost 30 basis points over the week. The probability of a quarter-point cut at the meeting on 17 and 18 September jumped to 71% on Friday afternoon, compared with 60% the previous day, according to the CME's Fedwatch tool.

Analysis
UBS downgrades Partners Group to CHF 1,174 (1,248) - Neutral
JPM lowers Lufthansa target to EUR 4.60 (5.00) - Underweight
UBS cuts Baloise to Neutral (Buy)/170 (155) CHF - Trader
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