Primark said its chief executive officer, Paul Marchant, resigned after an investigation into alleged inappropriate behavior, ending his 16-year tenure at the helm of the clothing retailer. The business, part of conglomerate Associated British Foods, said Monday that Marchant’s departure followed a probe into an allegation made by a woman about his behavior toward her in a social environment. He admitted an error of judgment and accepted that his actions fell below the standards expected, the company said. Marchant didn’t respond to a request for comment. Parent company AB Foods said its finance director, Eoin Tonge, will act as interim Primark CEO. The group’s financial controller, Joana Edwards, will become interim finance director, it said. “Acting responsibly is the only way to build and manage a business over the long term,” AB Foods’ CEO George Weston said. “Our culture has to be, and is, bigger than any one individual.” Marchant apologized to the woman, the AB Foods board and to Primark colleagues, the company said.

The Switzerland market ended sharply lower on Monday, in line with markets across Europe, as concerns about new tariffs and their impact on global economic growth rendered the mood extremely bearish. The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 242.31 points or 1.89% at 12,598.12, slightly off the day's low of 12,585.99. Logitech International tumbled 4.42%. SIG Group, UBS Group, ABB, Partners Group, Richemont, VAT Group, Lonza Group, Adecco and Swatch Group lost 3 to 4%. Straumann Holding ended nearly 3% down. Sonova, Julius Baer, Sika, Sandoz Group, Roche Holding and Holcim closed lower by 2 to 2.5%. Schindler, the lone gainer among the SMI constitutents, ended 0.36% up.

Europe
European stocks closed on a weak note on Monday after languishing in the red right through the day's session amid rising fears of a global trade war. The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.47%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended down 0.88%, Germany's DAX closed 1.33% down, and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 1.58%. Switzerland's SMI tumbled 1.89%. The FTSE 100 gained about 5% in the first quarter, while the DAX and CAC 40 added about 11% and 6% respectively during the Jan - March 2025 period. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses. In the UK market, IAG dropped more than 6.5%. Entain, JD Sports Fashion, Anglo American Plc, Glencore, Easyjet, Antofagasta, Spirax Group, Melrose Industries and St. James's Place lost 3 to 5.7%. Schroders, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rio Tinto, Informa, WPP, M&G, Ashtead Group, Mondi, Hiscox, Weir Group, Barclays Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest Group, GSK and Barratt Redrow also declined sharply. Associated British Foods ended down by 1.57% as Primark CEO Paul Marchant resigned amid an investigation into behaviour allegations. 3i Infrastructure closed lower by 2.59% after the investment company released a pre-close trading update for the year ending 31 March 2025. Pets At Home Group shares tumbled 8.4% after a profit warning.

United States
After moving sharply lower early in the session, stocks showed a significant rebound over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day to close mixed. The Dow jumped 417.86 points or 1 percent to 42,001.76 and the S&P 500 climber 30.91 points or 0.6 percent to 5,611.85. The Nasdaq bounced well off its lows but still ended the day down 23.70 points or 0.1 percent at 17,299.29 The early weakness on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners, which are due to be imposed on Wednesday, April 2nd. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that the reciprocal tariffs would target all countries and not just a smaller group with the biggest trade imbalances. 'You'd start with all countries,' Trump said. 'Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about.' Traders worry Trump's tariffs and possible retaliatory actions by targeted countries will fuel inflation, keep interest rates elevated and drag down global economic growth. Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit new six-months lows inspired some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing an unexpected increase by its reading on Chicago-area business activity in the month of March. Biotechnology stocks helped lead the rebound on Wall Street, with the NYSE Biotechnology Index surging by 3.3 percent. Significant strength also emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the KBW Bank Index.

Asia
After a start to the week characterized by heavy losses in some cases, the stock markets in East Asia are on course for a recovery on Tuesday. In Tokyo, the recovery was weak. The 4 per cent drop of the previous day was followed by a countermovement of only 0.1 per cent to 35,653 points.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries are extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.4 basis points at 4.221 percent.

Analysis
UBS raises Nemetschek to EUR 120 (115) / Neutral – Trader
HSBC lowers BASF to EUR 50 (53) – Hold
Barclays lowers Schneider to EUR 276 (300) – Overweight

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