The logistics group Kuehne+Nagel generated significantly higher turnover in the first quarter of 2025 than in the previous year. Net turnover rose by 15 per cent to CHF 6.33 billion and gross profit, adjusted for volatile freight tariffs, increased by 8 per cent to CHF 2.24 billion, as the company announced on Thursday. Consequently, the profit figures also improved. Operating profit (EBIT) climbed by 7 per cent to CHF 402 million and net profit by 9 per cent to CHF 303 million. Profitability measured by the conversion rate, which describes the ratio of EBIT to gross profit and is an important indicator for management, declined by 10 basis points to 18.0 per cent. ‘Kuehne+Nagel started the new business year very well,’ CEO Stefan Paul is quoted as commenting in the press release. ‘We were able to increase our market share, win new customers and also improve profitability.’ The EBIT forecast for the current year in the range of CHF 1.5 to 1.75 billion remains unchanged. Due to the current uncertainties surrounding the issue of trade tariffs, this forecast will not be updated, Kuehne+Nagel informed.

Although share prices on the Swiss stock exchange rose significantly on Wednesday, with an increase of 1.4 per cent to 11,809 points, the leading SMI index in Zurich lagged behind most of its European neighbours. Novartis added only 0.2 per cent, Nestlé 0.9 per cent and Roche 1.3 per cent. Swisscom (-0.2%), another defensive stock, lagged far behind in the daily rankings. There were 18 gainers and 2 losers in the SMI. A total of 27.99 million shares were traded (Tuesday: 20.80 million). Logitech was the day's winner with a performance of 5.6 per cent. Technology stocks also led the continued rally on the US stock markets. UBS (+4.4%&) and Kühne + Nagel (+3.7%), typical cyclicals, followed in second place. The shares of insurers Baloise and Helvetia, which had been firm the day before with merger plans, recorded profit-taking. Baloise fell by 1.7 per cent, Helvetia by 0.7 per cent. The merger would create an insurer with a market share of 20 per cent in Switzerland, which should not worry the competition authorities, commented analysts at Berenberg. Swiss Life would have a market share of around 50 per cent.

Europe
The European stock markets posted significant gains on Wednesday, following a rebound in the US markets, buoyed by hopes of a de-escalation in world trade tariffs in the wake of Washington's declarations of intent in favour of a trade agreement with China. The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 1.8% to 516.8 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and SBF 120 rose by 2.1% each. The DAX 40 jumped 3.1% in Frankfurt and the FTSE 100 picked up 0.9% in London. EUROFINS (+12%): on Wednesday, the medical analysis laboratory confirmed its targets for 2025 and 2027, after publishing sales slightly ahead of analysts' expectations in the first quarter. Over the period January to March, the group's sales increased by 6.9% to €1.77 billion. OPMOBILITY (+8.5%): on Wednesday, the automotive supplier reiterated all its targets for the 2025 financial year, after seeing its economic sales grow faster than global automotive production in the first quarter, a period marked by the introduction of new customs duties in the United States. DANONE (+0.8%): on Wednesday, the food group backed up its financial targets for 2025, having posted what was described as a ‘very solid’ first quarter with organic sales growth of 4.3%.

United States
Wall Street's strong performance on Tuesday continued on Wednesday. The Dow Jones index ended the day 1.1 per cent higher at 39,607 points. It had already reached 40,376 points at the day's high. The S&P 500 rose by 1.7 per cent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq indices climbed by up to 2.5 per cent. According to initial counts, there were 2,125 (Tuesday: 2,553) price gainers on the Nyse, compared with 667 (259) losers. 28 (25) stocks closed unchanged. Among the individual stocks, Tesla was in the spotlight. Despite weak business figures, the share price rose by 5.6 per cent. Intel gained 5.4 per cent. The chip manufacturer plans to cut more than 20 per cent of its jobs based on a media report. In the chip sector, Nvidia climbed by 3.8 per cent, AMD by 4.7 per cent and Broadcom by 4.3 per cent. AT&T reported higher profits and revenue in the first quarter of 2025 thanks to an increase in customer numbers. The company also confirmed its earnings forecast, the range of which is just below the current consensus of analysts. The share price rose by 0.7 per cent. GE Vernova returned to profit in the first quarter. The energy equipment manufacturer's share price climbed by 3.1 per cent. Boeing shares took off by 6.1 per cent after the aircraft manufacturer reported a loss for the first quarter that was much smaller than expected. The fact that the EU imposed fines totalling 700 million euros on Apple and Meta Platforms and called on the two companies to comply with the EU regulations applicable to their industry in future hardly slowed down their share prices. Apple surged by 2.4 per cent and Meta by 4.0 per cent.

Asia
Asian indexes diverged for the Thursday trading session. In Hong Kong, the HSI fell by 1.2 per cent. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent. In Japan, on the other hand, the Nikkei-225 rose by 0.6 per cent to 35,071 points - also supported by a significantly weakening yen against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the Kospi in South Korea shed 0.4 per cent. The focus here is on the annual reports of major companies. Shares in memory chip manufacturer SK Hynix fell by 1.3 per cent, reversing their earlier gains following strong business figures for the first quarter. Shares in car manufacturer Hyundai Motor and steel producer Posco Holdings dropped 0.4 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively during the day before the publication of their first quarter results.

Bonds
Despite signs of easing, the US bond market remains volatile, as the escalating trade war and Donald Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve (Fed) have pushed up US borrowing costs since the start of the month. After easing sharply at the start of the session, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note yield finally gave up just 2 basis points (0.02 percentage points) to 4.38%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, which is more closely linked to Fed policy, advanced by 8 basis points to 3.87%.

Analysis
Citi downgrades UBS target to CHF 25.40 (30) - Neutral
Target price Temenos: UBS lowers to CHF 46 (54) - Sell
Rating Zurich Insurance: Julius Baer raises to Buy (Hold) - Target CHF 630 (610)

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