President-elect Donald Trump rode to TikTok’s rescue on Sunday, working on the eve of his new presidency to try to undo a ban effort that he helped initiate during his first term. The popular social-media app started restoring service on Sunday for its 170 million U.S. users just over 14 hours after halting it in response to a bipartisan national-security law requiring TikTok to shed its Chinese ownership or shut down in the U.S. The restoration of service came after Trump, who has been indicating for weeks that he wanted to help the app, said Sunday he would issue an executive order on Monday to reinstate the service in the U.S. and that he wants the country to have an ownership position in the app. “Welcome back!” read a message the TikTok app showed users Sunday. “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” The company separately said Trump had provided the assurance needed for TikTok and its partners to restore service. It said TikTok would work with the incoming president on a long-term solution to the law’s requirements. The weekend’s frenetic moves capped a yearslong saga that has seen a complete change in the president-elect’s position

The Swiss stock market was in the green from start to finish on Friday, rising optimism over the outlook for interest rates and extending recent gains. The SMI has finished higher in four straight sessions, rallying almost 290 points or 2.4 percent along the way. For the day, the index advanced 48.27 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 11,990.27 after trading between 11,955.94 and 12,003.09. Among the actives, UBS Group surged 2.91 percent, while ABB soared 2.09 percent, Swatch Group spiked 1,60 percent, Adecco rallied 1.59 percent, Novartis dropped 1.40 percent, Roche Holding sank 1.19 percent, Swiss Life collected 0.95 percent, Zurich Insurance added 0.52 percent, Swiss Re gained 0.48 percent and Swisscom perked 0.10 percent.

Europe
Optimism over interest rate cuts had traders in a happy mood on Friday as the major European stock markets finished solidly to the upside, extending recent gains. Closer home, ECB Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said on Thursday that 'policy should continue with a series of rate cuts at the next meetings.' Traders expect a 100-basis point cut from ECB this year. Germany's DAX rallied 248.00 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 20,903.39, while London's FTSE spiked 113.32 points or 1.35 percent to close at 8,505.22 and the CAC 40 in France gained 75.01 points or 0.98 percent to end at 7,709.75. In Germany, Siemens Energy surged 3.06 percent, while Heidelberg Materials spiked 3.02 percent, Daimler Truck Holding jumped 2.00 percent, Deutsche Post climbed 1.98 percent, Deutsche Bank advanced 1.74 percent, Infineon Technologies improved 1.72 percent, Merck slumped 1.40 percent, BASF added 0.68 percent, Deutsche Borse and Volkswagen both rose 0.52 percent and Deutsche Telekom was unchanged. In London, Entain skyrocketed 6.29 percent, while Smiths Group surged 5.50 percent, Prudential accelerated 4.93 percent, Scottish Mortgage rallied 2.45 percent, British American Tobacco strengthened 1.75 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings improved 1.59 percent, EasyJet gained 1.31 percent, Haleon collected 0.97 percent, Rightmove rose 0.49 percent and Vodafone Group perked 0.12 percent. In France, Carrefour plummeted 4.95 percent, while Atos tanked 4.76 percent, Veolia Environment soared 2.24 percent, Engie rallied 1.55 percent, Vivendi surrendered 1.01 percent, Danone advanced 0.87 percent, Credit Agricole and Sanofi both rose 0.32 percent, Societe Generale perked 0.07 percent and BNP Paribas was up 0.05 percent.

United States
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, with the major averages more than offsetting the losses posted in the previous session. With the upward move, the Dow ended the day at its best closing level in a month. The major averages pulled back off their best levels in the latter part of the session but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq surged 291.91 points or 1.5 percent to 19,630.20, the S&P 500 jumped 59.32 points or 1.0 percent to 5,996.66 and the Dow climbed 334.70 points or 0.8 percent to 43,487.83. The major averages also posted strong gains for the week. The Dow soared by 3.7 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shot up by 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Stocks may have benefitted from the recent decrease by treasury yields even though the yield on the benchmark ten-year note recovered from an early slump to end the day roughly flat. Adding to the interest rate optimism, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC the central bank could lower interest rates multiple times this year if inflation eases as he is expecting. Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.8 percent. Applied Materials (AMAT) posted a notable gain after KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Overweight from Sector Weight. Significant strength was also visible among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index.

Asia
Led by Hong Kong and Tokyo, the stock markets in East Asia and Australia rose clearly on Monday. The HSI in Hong Kong jumped by 2.5 per cent, in Tokyo the Nikkei-225 rose by 1.2 per cent, also with a tailwind from a slightly weaker yen. The Shanghai Composite at least advances by 0.5 per cent, while the Kospi in Seoul falls slightly. In Sydney, trading has already ended with a gain of 0.4 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled back near the unchanged line after seeing early strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, inched up by less than a basis point to 4.609 percent after hitting a low of 4.568 percent.

Analysis
Barclays lowers European Pharma & Life Sciences sector to Neutral (Positive)
UBS lowers Suss Microtech target to 39.10 (40) EUR/Sell – Trader
Bank of America raises Antofagasta target to 2,400 (2,200) p – Buy

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