Sonova met its own sales and profit targets in the past 2024/25 financial year. The shareholders of the Swiss hearing aid group are now to receive a higher dividend. There will also be a change of CEO. As Sonova reported on Friday together with the annual figures, CEO Arnd Kaldowski will step down from his position for personal reasons on September 30, 2025. Eric Bernard, former CEO of WS Audiology, will join Sonova on July 1, 2025 and take over the CEO position on October 1, 2025. Sales rose by 6.6 percent to 3.87 billion Swiss francs in the financial year ended March. In local currencies, the increase was 7.6 percent. The company increased its adjusted operating profit (EBITA) by 4.7% to just under CHF 808 million. In local currencies, the increase would have been 7.4 percent. Here, too, the second half of the year contributed the decisive growth with an increase of 16.6 percent. The bottom line, however, was a lower profit after tax of CHF 547 million (previous year: CHF 610 million). Among other things, costs for currency hedging were noticeable here.

After a positive start and a subsequent mild setback, the Switzerland market recovered and stayed firm till a little past mid afternoon on Thursday, but turned weak and ended the day's session moderately lower. Investors digested the monetary policy moves of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, and reports about the U.S. and the U.K. striking a trade deal. The benchmark SMI ended lower by 52.04 points or 0.43% at 12,061.72, the day's low. The index climbed to a high of 12,188.89 about a couple of hours past noon. Adecco soared 11.7% after upbeat first-quarter results. The company's net income for the quarter was €60 million, up from an expected €47 million. The firm reported sales worth €5,573 million in the first-quarter, surpassing the forecast of €5,467 million. Straumann Holding climbed about 4.1%, while VAT Group and Logitech International gained 3.67% and 3.6%, respectively. Partners Group gained about 2.5%. Julius Baer, ABB, Alcon, Sandoz Group, SGS, UBS Group, Holcim, Geberit, Swatch Group, Richemont and Sika ended higher by 1 to 2%. Roche Holding closed lower by 2.37%. Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Re both ended down by about 1.7%. Nestle, Lonza Group, Swisscom, Lindt & Spruengli and Novartis also closed on weak note.

Europe
European stocks closed on a firm note on Thursday with investors reacting to earnings, and news about an impending trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K., and digesting the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy moves. The Bank of England has cut interest rate by 0.25% as widely expected, amid concerns over the potential shock to global growth due to Trump administration's tariff policies. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.83%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed higher by 0.22%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 gained 1.11% and 1.12%, respectively, while Switzerland's SMI closed down 0.43%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Belgium, Denmark and Greece ended weak, while Norway, Portugal and Spain closed flat. In the UK market, Melrose Industries, IMI, Weir Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Whitbread, Barclays, Associated British Foods, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Intermediate Capital, Scottish Mortgage, Bunzl, Mondi, Smiths and Natwest Group gained 2 to 5.3%. Airtel Africa tumbed more than 8%. The telecommunications and mobile money services company reported full year 2025 profit -before-tax of $661 million compared with pre-tax loss of $63 million last year. Earnings per share for the full year were 6 cents versus loss per share of 4.4 cents last year. Centrica lost around 7.6%, while AstraZeneca, Severn Trent, Fresnillo, Land Securities, BT, Imperial Brands, United Utilities, Rio Tinto and Unilever closed lower by 2 to 3.5%. In the German market, Puma climbed more than 5%. The sportswear maker reported sharply lower profit in its first quarter with higher expenses and lower sales. However, the firm maintained its fiscal 2025 outlook, and said it is on track to have approximately 500 corporate positions reduced globally by the end of the second quarter 2025.

United States
After moving mostly higher early in the session, stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Thursday before giving back some ground going into the close. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but still finished the session firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 189.98 points or 1.1 percent to 17,928.14, the Dow advanced 254.48 points or 0.6 percent to 41,368.45 and the S&P 500 climbed 32.66 points or 0.6 percent at 5,663.94. The strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump unveiled the framework of a trade agreement with the U.K. While noting the final details are still 'being written up,' Trump claimed the deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, and will see the U.K. reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers. Even with the deal, the 10 percent tariff Trump imposed on most countries in early April will remain in place for imports from the U.K. Airline stocks turned in some of the market's best performances, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.2 percent to its best closing level in over a month. A sharp increase by the price of crude also contributed to substantial strength among energy stocks.

Asia
At the end of the week, no uniform trend can be discerned on the stock exchanges in East Asia and Australia. Some trading centres, particularly the Japanese stock exchange, are benefiting from the fact that the US has concluded a framework agreement for a trade deal with the UK. The Nikkei 225 index gained 1.3 per cent to 37,415 points in Tokyo, also supported by the yen, which weakened against the US dollar. This is supporting shares in export-orientated sectors such as electronics, technology and automotive engineering.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries pulled back sharply after moving higher over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 9.8 basis points to 4.373 percent.

Analysis
DZ Bank raises Zurich Insurance target to CHF 655 (645) – Buy
UBS raises Fresenius target to EUR 49 (47) – Buy
UBS raises Endesa target to EUR 25.60 (25.20) – Neutral