The Zurich Insurance Group benefited from strong momentum in all business segments last year and earned more than expected. The property and casualty insurance and life insurance businesses reported their highest ever operating profit. The Swiss insurer increased its operating profit at Group level by 5 per cent to USD 7.75 billion. This is more than analysts had expected with an average of 7.66 billion dollars. At the bottom line, Zurich earned a whopping 34 per cent more at USD 5.81 billion. The consensus estimate had been USD 5.68 billion. The adjusted return on equity improved by 1.6 percentage points to 24.6 per cent. In property and casualty insurance, operating profit increased by 8 per cent to USD 4.2 billion, while the combined ratio improved to 94.2 per cent. Shareholders are to receive an 8 per cent higher dividend of 28 Swiss francs per share.

Save for a few minutes at the start, the Switzerland market languished in negative territory right through the day's session on Wednesday, as tariff concerns, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty about global growth outlook rendered the mood bearish. The benchmark SMI, which tumbled to 12,756.46, closed down 95.46 points or 0.74% at 12,798.52. Holcim tumbled 4.4%. Swiss Re, Geberit, Julius Baer, Partners Group and Sika closed down 2 to 2.5%. Givaudan, Swatch Group and ABB declined 1.25 to 1.9%. Swiss Life Holding, UBS Group, Zurich Insurance Group, Schindler Ps, Lonza Group and Richemont lost 0.9 to 1.1%. Swisscom and Sonova ended moderately lower. Alcon and Logitech International also closed weak. Temenos tumbled 4.4% after the company lowered its 2028 projections. The company now expects annual reccuring revenue of about $1.2 billion, down from its previous forecast of over $1.3 billion. Straumann Holding climbed more than 4.5%. Kuehne + Nagel, Lindt & Spruengli and Novartis posted modest gains.

Europe
European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as disappointing quarterly updates, U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh tariff threats, and hot inflation data from the U.K. weighed on sentiment. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.91%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed down 0.62%, Germany's DAX ended lower by 1.8% and France's CAC 40 lost 1.17%. Switzerland's SMI settled lower by 0.74%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended with sharp to moderate losses. Portugal declined marginally. Denmark, Norway and Russia bucked the trend and closed modestly higher. In the UK market, Glencore tumbled more than 7% after the company reported a drop in full-year earnings. EasyJet, JD Sports Fashion, Anglo American Plc, Ashtead Group, Barratt Redrow, Prudential, Spirax Group and IAG ended lower by 3 to 4%. Hiscox, Beazley, Melrose Industries, Kingfisher, Weir Group, Associated British Foods, Howden Joinery, DCC, Fresnillo, M&G, Segro and Schrodders also ended sharply lower. Unilever, SSE, Pershing Square Holdings, Pearson, National Grid, Antofagasta and Scottish Mortgage gained 0.6 to 1.5%. BP gained about 1.1% on reports the company is considering a potential sale of its lubricants business, Castrol. Defense giant BAE Systems, which declined sharply in early trades despite reporting strong 2024 results, recovered subsequently, and ended the session moderately higher. In the German market, HeidelbergCement tumbed 5.5%. MTU Aero Engines closed lower by about 4.5%. The company reported that its fourth quarter net income declined to 143 million euros from 215 million euros in the same quarter last year. Earnings per basic share was 2.56 euros, down from 3.96 euros in the previous year.

United States
Stocks moved modestly lower early in the session on Wednesday but regained ground over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their early lows and into positive territory, with the S&P 500 once again reaching a new record closing high. The major averages ended the day modestly higher. The S&P 500 rose 14.57 points or 0.2 percent to 6,144.15, the Dow climbed 71.25 points or 0.2 percent to 44,627.59 and the Nasdaq inched up 14.99 points or 0.1 percent to 20,056.25. The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders shrugged off early concerns about a global trade war even as President Donald Trump said he plans to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Trump said the 25 percent tariffs could be imposed as early as April 2nd and warned the duties could 'go substantially higher over a course of a year.' The rebound also came even though the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting revealed officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing housing starts pulled back by more than expected in the month of January. Computer hardware stocks extended the rally seen over the past several sessions, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 1.9 percent to a new record intraday high. Significant strength also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Healthcare stocks also showed a notable move to the upside, while weakness remained visible among housing and airline stocks.

Asia
Negative signs dominated the stock markets in East Asia and Australia on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced the introduction of further punitive tariffs as early as next month. On the Chinese mainland stock exchanges, selling pressure is being eased by the Chinese central bank (PBoC), which has left two key interest rates - the one-year and five-year loan prime rate - unchanged. This had been widely expected by economists. In Shanghai, the composite index fell by 0.2 per cent.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction before ending the day roughly flat. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point at 4.535 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America raises HSBC target to 1,035 (960) GBp/buy – Trader
Dt. Bank lowers SGL Carbon target to EUR 7.40 (9) – Buy
Dt. Bank raises Euronext target to EUR 131 (122) – Buy

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