Low-cost airline easyJet raised its dividend after reporting higher earnings for its fiscal year helped by surging demand for package holidays. The London-listed company said it expects to continue growing after reporting increases to its capacity, passenger revenue, ancillary revenue and passenger numbers in the year to the end of September. The results contrast with low-cost peer Ryanair, which earlier this month reported a fall in net profit for the first half of fiscal 2025, adding that it expected to carry fewer passengers in fiscal 2026 than forecast thanks to Boeing plane delivery delays. EasyJet’s capacity for the current fiscal year is expected at around 103 million seats, an estimated on-year increase of around 3%. The company said it flew 89.7 million passengers in fiscal 2024 after its capacity rose 8%. “The airline will continue to grow, particularly on popular longer leisure routes like North Africa and the Canaries, and we plan to take 25% more customers away on package holidays,” easyJet Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive-designate Kenton Jarvis said. The airline said it expects its easyJet Holidays passengers to increase in fiscal 2025 after the division’s pretax profit grew 56% and revenue rose 47% in fiscal 2024.

The Swiss stock market spent most of Wednesday's trade under water before a late rally nudged it up into positive territory going into the close. The higher finish allowed the SMI to snap the two-day losing streak in which it had given up more than 80 points or 0.7 percent. The performance was mostly in line with other European markets, which hugged the line and finished mixed as investors fretted about potential inflationary pressures arising from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff policies. Investor sentiment was also dented as the risk premium investors demand to hold French debt rose to its highest level since 2012 amid fiscal and political turbulence and angst over the fate of the new government. For the day, the SMI rose 11.13 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 11,644.01 after trading between 11,583.01 and 11,653.26. Among the individual components, Lonza Group tumbled 2.64 percent, while Adecco Group jumped 1.82 percent, ABB retreated 1.05 percent, Novartis rallied 0.89 percent, Sika sank 0.87 percent, Nestle improved 0.69 percent, Swisscom added 0.50 percent, UBS slumped 0.32 percent, Swiss Life slid 0.22 percent, Zurich Insurance eased 0.07 percent and Swatch Group was unchanged.

Europe
The major European markets saw late support to finish mixed on Tuesday, shaking off early weakness as investors fretted about potential inflationary pressures arising from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff policies. Investor sentiment was also dented as the risk premium investors demand to hold French debt rose to its highest level since 2012 amid fiscal and political turbulence and angst over the fate of the new government. For the day, Germany's DAX slipped 34.23 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 19,261.75, while London's FTSE rose 16.14 points or 0.20 percent to close at 8,274.75 and the CAC 40 in France slumped 51.48 points or 0.72 percent to end at 7,143. In Germany, Vonovia soared 2.93 percent, while Zalando stumbled 2.05 percent, Daimler Truck Holding jumped 1.50 percent, Infineon Technologies slumped 1.41 percent, E.ON SE sank 1.00 percent, Deutsche Bank dropped 0.63 percent, Heidelberg Materials lost 0.55 percent, Deutsche Telekom added 0.44 percent and Deutsche Post fell 0.38 percent. In London, Airtel Africa surged 5.16 percent, while Entain tumbled 2.61 percent, Tesco rallied 2.14 percent, Rightmove improved 1.63 percent, Haleon climbed 1.42 percent, Rentokil slumped 1.07 percent, Compass Group advanced 0.97 percent, Shell lost 0.65 percent, Experian gained 0.61 percent, M&G fell 0.58 percent, Vodafone rose 0.45 percent and Rolls-Royce was down 0.44 percent. In France, Societe Generale tanked 3.48 percent, while Worldline stumbled 3.20 percent, Airbus jumped 1.93 percent, Vinci dropped 1.74 percent, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain slumped 1.53 percent, Credit Agricole lost 1.34 percent, BNP Paribas fell 1.19 percent, Carrefour improved 1.14 percent, Sanofi rose 0.64 percent and Danone was up 0.40 percent. In economic news, France's consumer confidence worsened further in November to the lowest level in five months, monthly survey data from the statistical office INSEE showed on Wednesday. The consumer sentiment index dropped to 90 in November from 93 in the previous month.

United States
After trending higher over the past several sessions, stocks gave back some ground during trading on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, while the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back off Tuesday's record closing highs.The Nasdaq climbed well off its worst levels of the day but still closed down 115.10 points or 0.6 percent at 19,060.48. The Dow fell 138.25 points or 0.3 percent to 44,722.06 and the S&P 500 slid 22.8 points or 0.4 percent to 5,998.74, snapping a seven-session winning streak. The pullback by the Nasdaq came amid substantial weakness among computer hardware stocks, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index plunging by 3.3 percent. PC makers Dell Technologies (DELL) and HP Inc. (HPQ) plummeted by 12.3 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively, after providing disappointing earnings guidance. Significant weakness was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Weakness among semiconductor and networking stocks also weighed on the Nasdaq, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside. The weakness in the broader markets came after the Commerce Department released closely watched consumer price inflation data that matched expectations. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.2 percent in October, matching the uptick seen in September as well as economist estimates. Workday, the provider of corporate human-resources and financial software, posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates. Subscription revenue in the period rose to $1.96 billion from $1.69 billion a year earlier. The stock fell 6.2%, however, after Workday forecast fourth-quarter subscription revenue to rise 15% to $2.03 billion, below estimates of $2.2 billion.

Asia
The stock markets in East Asia and Australia were also mixed on Thursday, with the opposite sign. This time, the indices in Hong Kong (-1.4%) and Shanghai (-0.2%), which had rallied strongly the previous day after a closing rally, fell. The other markets, however, are moving upwards. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8 per cent to 38,436 points.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved back to the upside following the pullback seen on Tuesday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 6.0 basis points to a one-month closing low of 4.242 percent.

Analysis
HSBC lowers the Enel target to EUR 7.90 (8.20) – Buy
UBS lowers Gurit to CHF 14 (40) – Neutral
UBS raises PSP Swiss Property to CHF 135 (133) – Buy

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