Sunrise, Switzerland's second-largest telecoms group, returned to the Swiss stock exchange after a four-year absence following its spin-off from parent company Liberty Global. The shares started at 44.75 Swiss francs, corresponding to a market capitalization of 3.1 billion Swiss francs. At the close of trading, the shares were quoted at 41.80 francs. With this market capitalization, Sunrise has achieved the third-largest IPO in the world so far this year. Only the IPOs of Lineage in the USA (USD 5.1 billion) and the Midea Group in China (USD 4.0 billion) were bigger. In Switzerland, Sunrise is therefore well ahead of the skincare specialist Galderma, whose IPO in March raised just under CHF 2.3 billion. Sunrise has thus succeeded in returning to the Swiss stock exchange, where the telecoms group was previously listed from 2015 to 2021. However, following the takeover by the British-American cable network giant Liberty Global for CHF 5.0 billion - including debt, the company was even valued at CHF 6.8 billion - Sunrise disappeared from the Swiss stock exchange. Sunrise aims to attract investors with high dividends of around CHF 3.30 per share. Based on the opening price, this would result in a dividend yield of 7.5 per cent. The Swiss average is 2.5 per cent and the top yields are 5 to 6 per cent.

The Swiss stock market ended the week on a bearish note, dragged down by significant losses in pharmaceutical heavyweights Novartis and Roche. The background to this is the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as US Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is considered an opponent of vaccination. As a result, shares of vaccine manufacturers were under pressure in Europe. Roche and Novartis fell by 2.2 and 1.1 per cent respectively. Lonza shares brought up the rear of the SMI with a drop of 8.3 per cent. The SMI declined by 1.3 per cent to 11,627 points. Of the 20 SMI stocks, there were 18 losers and 2 winners. A total of 19.64 (previously: 19.09) million shares were traded. Meyer Burger shares plummeted by 62.7 per cent. The ailing technology group suffered a further setback. The company revealed that its largest customer Desri has cancelled its framework agreement with Meyer Burger effective immediately. The Swisscom share dropped 0.8 per cent.

Europe
The European stock markets fell back on Friday, as robust economic indicators published in the United States argued for a more patient Federal Reserve (Fed) in its future rate cuts. The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.8% to 503.1 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 were down by 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. The DAX 40 weakened by 0.3% in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 shed 0.1% in London. Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx Europe 600 slipped by 0.7%. Bouygues Telecom (Bouygues group, whose shares rose by 1% on Friday) announced the completion of its takeover of La Poste Telecom after the close. Vallourec (+6.4%) confirmed its gross operating profit (EBIT) target for 2024, although this indicator fell in the third quarter but is expected to rise sequentially (quarter on quarter) in the last three months of the year. Neoen (-0.1%) confirmed having won seven solar and agrivoltaic projects in the latest government call for tenders managed by the Commission de Régulation de l'Energie (CRE). These new contracts enable Neoen to cross the threshold of 2.5 gigawatts of ‘secured capacity’ in France.

United States
Stocks fell Friday, following a solid retail-sales report that could bolster the case that the economy is strong and may not need support in the form of lower borrowing costs. All three major U.S. stock indexes finished the day in the red. The Nasdaq Composite fell for a fourth consecutive day and was down more than 3% for the week. The S&P 500 lost more than 2% on the week, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1%. Pharmaceutical groups continued to fall after Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, as Health Secretary. Pfizer lost 4.7% after a 2.6% decline on Thursday. Moderna shed 7.3% following a 5.6% decline. BioNTech gave up 3.7% having plunged 7.1% on Thursday. Novavax, on the other hand, stabilized (+1.4%) after declining by 7.5% the previous day. Tesla recovered 3.1%. The share price had dropped by 5.8% on Thursday, following reports from Reuters that Donald Trump might abolish a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of an electric car. In the same sector, Rivian Automotive (-0.8%) also continued its decline, following a 14% drop. Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials (-9%) reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of its last financial year, although sales forecasts for the current quarter were disappointing. Data analytics company Palantir Technologies (+11%) announced plans to transfer its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq on 26 November. Alibaba shares on the New York Stock Exchange lost 2.2% after the Chinese online retail giant reported better-than-expected net profit for the second quarter of its financial year despite sales falling short of expectations.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia are shaking off the weak lead from Wall Street on Friday at the start of the trading week. With the exception of Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.1 per cent to 38,233 points, all indices edged upwards. In Shanghai and Hong Kong, each rose by around 1.0 per cent, in Seoul by as much as 1.6 per cent. Sydney is up 0.2 per cent.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields closed little changed on Friday after an earlier spike in rates triggered buying demand for most Treasuries. The 10-year Treasury note yield recovered 2 basis points to 4.44%, as well as the 2-year Treasury note yield to 4.31%.

Analysis
Vontobel raises target Swiss Life to CHF 760 (732) - Hold
Barclays lowers Givaudan to Underweight (Equalweight) - Target CHF 3,750 (4,200)
RBC upgrades target Julius Baer to CHF 61 (60) - Outperform

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