Warren Buffett stunned the investing world Saturday by revealing his plans to step down as Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive at year-end and hand the reins to handpicked successor, Greg Abel. The 94-year-old investor closed the annual meeting of the company he built into one of the nation’s largest with the surprise announcement that he will recommend to Berkshire’s board that Abel begin the CEO job in 2026. “The time has arrived,” he said, “where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end.” And with that, one of the greatest and longest-running shows in American capitalism entered its final months. Buffett transformed Berkshire, once an ailing textile company, into a massive conglomerate and a cultural phenomenon. For decades, thousands of fans and investors have traveled to Omaha each year to attend what Buffett called Berkshire’s “Woodstock for Capitalists.” Millions more have watched from home, read his annual letters to shareholders and studied his wit and wisdom that often-transcended investment advice.

The Swiss market closed on a strong note on Friday, mirroring the trend in markets across Europe and elsewhere, as worries about trade tensions eased after China stated its willingness to hold talks with the U.S. The benchmark SMI closed up 136.81 points or 1.13% at 12,253.79, off the day's high of 12,282.55. ABB, the top gainer in the SMI index, closed 4.63% up. Straumann Holding, Logitech International and Julius Baer gained 3.2 to 3.78%. Sandoz Group gained about 2.7% following a rating upgrade by RBC Capital Markets. Holcim, Geberit, Partners Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Alcon, Lonza Group, VAT Group, Sika, SIG Group and UBS Group ended higher by 1.6 to 2.7%. Roche Holding, SGS, Givaudan, Swiss Life Holding, Sonova, Adecco and Kuehne + Nagel also posted impressive gains. Schindler Ps closed down 1.6%, while Swisscom and Nestle ended marginally down. In economics, a report from procuer ch & UBS said, the Swiss procure.ch. Manufacturing PMI dropped to 45.8 in April from 48.9 in March. The April reading was a nine-month low.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Friday, with the major markets in the region posting strong gains, amid easing concerns about U.S-China trade relations, and on upbeat U.S. non-farm payroll data. Trade tensions eased a bit after China said it has kept the doors open for discussions with the United States. At the same time, Beijing has also noted that the U.S. needs to show 'sincerity' in negotiations and should be prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs. Investors also digested a slew of regional economic data and corporate earnings updates. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.67%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.17%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 2.62% and 2.33%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI settled 1.13% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye ended with sharp to moderate gains. Portugal and Russia closed on a weak note. In the UK market, IAG and Melrose Industries climbed 5% and 4.9%, respectively. Babcock International, Rentokil Initial, Spirax Group, Entain, Reckitt Benckiser, Bunzl, HSBC Holdings, The Sage Group, Haleon, Scottish Mortgage, Halma, Endeavour Mining and Rolls-Royce Holdings gained 2 to 4%. Natwest Group gained about 1.3%. The banking and insurance holding company reported a sequential rise in its first-quarter earnings, helped by improved total income and a decline in operating expenses. The earnings were also underpinned by continued growth across the company's businesses. Lloyds Banking Group shares closed lower by about 1.1%. Standard Chartered Plc settled flat. The bank reported that its profit before taxation was $1.10 billion in the first-quarter, up from last year's $1.91 billion. Shell gained about 2%. The oil and gas major announced a share buyback programme of $3.5 billion, despite reporting weak first-quarter results.

United States
Stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Friday, with the major averages reaching their best closing levels in a month. The S&P 500 closed higher for the ninth consecutive session, marking its longest winning streak in over twenty years. The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the session but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq surged 266.99 points or 1.5 percent to 19,977.73, the S&P 500 shot up 82.53 points or 1.5 percent to 5,686.67 and the Dow jumped 564.47 points or 1.4 percent to 41,317.43. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared by 3.4 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 spiked by 3.0 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. The rally on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. job growth far exceeded economist estimates in the month of April. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 177,000 jobs in April compared to expectations for an increase of about 130,000 jobs. At the same time, the jumps in employment in February and March were downwardly revised to 102,000 jobs and 185,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 58,000 jobs. Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 6.0 percent.

Asia
Many stock exchanges in East Asia are closed on Monday for regional public holidays. Trading will be suspended in China, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Business is correspondingly quiet on the other stock exchanges in the region. Among the stock exchanges that are open is the one in Sydney. There, the S&P/ASX-200 is down 0.7 per cent after the Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won the parliamentary election at the weekend.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries extended yesterday's slump in reaction to the upbeat jobs data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 9.1 basis points to 4.322 percent.

Analysis
Bank of America raises Bayer to Buy (Neutral) – Target EUR 30 (27)
UBS raises Haelon target to 460 (443) p – Buy
UBS raises Santander target to EUR 7.25 (7.15) – Buy

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