Apple said a majority of its devices shipped into the U.S. in the June quarter will originate in India and Vietnam, a move to allay investor concerns about the impact of tariffs on its operations. The company was among the hardest-hit of the tech giants last month because of its exposure to China, a primary target of the Trump administration’s global tariff pressure. Most of Apple’s devices are assembled in the country, and investors are closely watching its efforts to shift final assembly of devices bound for the U.S. to India and other countries. Shares in Apple fell about 3.8% in after-hours trading. Apple reported that sales rose in the January-to-March period, driven in part by higher iPhone demand and the release of the low-end 16e model. Overall, sales increased 5% to $95 billion, beating analyst expectations. Net income for the period was $24.8 billion, up nearly 5% from the January-to-March quarter last year. IPhone sales rose 2% in the period. The market shrugged off Wednesday’s news that a different federal judge hammered Apple about its App Store policies. Apple is not only looking to refresh its product lines, it is also trying to catch up in artificial intelligence, after making promises to deliver new AI capabilities to its devices that have been delayed repeatedly.

The Swiss stock market closed slightly firmer on Wednesday after a sharp setback in the afternoon following weak US data. The SMI gained 0.4 per cent to 12,117 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 15 gainers and five losers. A total of 32.42 (previously: 19.11) million shares were traded. Business reports characterised trading throughout the day. UBS earned slightly less in the first quarter than in the previous year. However, the bank exceeded analysts' expectations. The share price fell 0.3 per cent due to the uncertain outlook. Logitech's sales performance was disappointing, despite better-than-expected business figures, and the share price dropped by 3.7 per cent. Novartis (-0.5 per cent) agreed to acquire the US biopharmaceutical company Regulus Therapeutics for a total value of up to around USD 1.7 billion. Pharmaceutical competitor Roche (+0.2%) is hoping for approval of its breast cancer drug Phesgo in Europe. Among small caps, Schindler (+9.2%), Straumann (-1.5%), Sandoz (-2.5%), AMS-Osram (+5.5%) and Idorsia (+9%) reported results. A reverse stock split was approved at baked goods supplier Aryzta (-0.7%).

Europe
The European stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, although the session was held back by the announcement of an unforeseen contraction in the US economy in the first quarter. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.3% to 526.63 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 rose by 0.5% to 7,593.87 points and 0.6% to 5,770.34 points respectively, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt added 0.2%. London's FTSE 100 clawed back less than 0.1%. The stock markets in Europe were largely closed on Thursday due to the Labour Day bank holiday. London was one of the few places where trading took place. The FTSE-100 closed virtually unchanged on Thursday, while the Stoxx-50 eased by 0.1 per cent to 4,398 points. CREDIT AGRICOLE SA (-4.4%): the bank reported record net banking income for the first quarter on Wednesday, although its group share of net profit was hit hard by the tax surcharge on very high-income French companies. TOTALENERGIES (-2.6%): the energy producer published on Wednesday a lower than expected adjusted net profit for the first quarter of 2025, as geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties weigh on oil demand. SOCIETE GENERALE (+3.4%): the banking group confirmed its annual forecasts on Wednesday after a sharp rise in its quarterly results, marked by a rebound in its retail banking business in France and by the dynamism of its investment bank. Due to weak production figures for the first quarter, Glencore plummeted by 7.4 per cent on the London Stock Exchange. Even though the outlook for the year as a whole has basically remained unchanged, the commodity experts at Barclays stated that a significantly stronger second half of the year in the copper business is now required to fulfil the targets. Rio Tinto subsequently suffered a loss of 2.2 per cent.

United States
Strong earnings from big technology firms and easing trade tensions fuelled a rally in stocks, lifting the Nasdaq Composite to levels last reached before President Trump’s tariff announcement touched off a roller-coaster April. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.5%, up 0.6% from its April 2 close. The S&P 500, which added 0.6% on Thursday, ended 1.2% shy of where it settled before Trump’s barrage of tariffs were unleashed from the White House Rose Garden. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, or 84 points, Thursday. Thursday’s gains were propelled by better-than-expected quarterly results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, reassuring investors of the relative resilience of the Magnificent Seven tech giants to tariff uncertainty. Facebook parent Meta reported strong sales and said growth would remain steady, assuaging concerns tariffs would harm its digital-ads business—a chunk of which comes from Chinese companies. Its shares rose 4.2%. Microsoft, meanwhile, indicated that big corporate clients aren’t slashing technology budgets just yet. Its stock jumped 7.6% to pace the Dow and is now up on the year after a swoon. Strong earnings drove other big gains Thursday. Carrier Global, which makes air conditioners and refrigeration equipment, climbed 12% to lead the S&P 500 higher after it topped Wall Street’s sales and profit forecasts, said it had fully mitigated the impact of tariffs, and boosted its full-year outlook. Earnings caused big declines at other firms. Poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride fell 14% and Graphic Packaging Holding lost 16%. Drugmaker Eli Lilly and medical device maker Becton, Dickinson shed 12% and 18%, respectively.

Asia
In Asia, major indexes broadly closed with gains on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.8 per cent to 36,735 points, having already risen by over 1 per cent the previous day. In Seoul, the Kospi added 0.3 per cent and in Hong Kong the HSI advanced by 1.6 per cent. There is no trading in Shanghai due to the 1st May holiday celebrations. Car stocks are on the rise in Hong Kong. BYD gained 2.0 per cent, as did Geely. BYD and the competing Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicles had reported further strong growth in registration figures in China for April, while Tesla is apparently struggling to regain momentum in China.

Bonds
U.S. government debt yields increased on Wednesday. The 10-year Treasury note yield recovered 6 basis points (0.06 percentage point) to 4.23%. The 2-year Treasury note yield edged up 9 basis points to 3.71%. The positive sentiment in equities spilled over into the bond market and pushed US government bond prices into negative territory.

Analysis
JPMorgan downgrades Roche to CHF 220 (230)/Underweight - Trader
Price target Kühne+Nagel: Julius Baer cuts to CHF 200 (220) - Hold
Deutsche Bank downgrades Swisscom to CHF 540 (570) - Hold