Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk pushed out its chief executive after losing ground in the anti-obesity drug market, which has caused a steep stock-price decline and impatience at the nonprofit foundation that controls the company. Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, who has headed the Danish pharmaceutical company for eight years, will step down after a period to support a smooth transition to new leadership. A search for his successor is in progress, the company said. With echoes of other recent corporate leadership changes, a former Novo CEO is coming back to the company as Jorgensen departs. Lars Rebien Sorensen, who was CEO of Novo from 2000 to 2016, will join Novo’s board of directors as an observer, with the intent of being nominated as a board member next year. Sorensen is chairman of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the nonprofit that owns voting control of the drugmaker. Novo’s board currently has two members who were nominated by the foundation.

After a positive start and a subsequent rise to higher levels Friday morning, the Switzerland market remained firm despite paring some gains, and ended the day's session on a bright note. Data showing a sharp jump in Swiss industrial production in the first-quarter aided sentiment. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 12,375.48, settled at 12,335.09, gaining 107.81 points or 0.88%. Richemont rallied almost 7% after reporting higher net profit and sales in its fiscal 2025 on strong Jewellery performance. Meanwhile, earnings from continuing operations was lower than last year amid weak China results. Further, the luxury goods firm declared higher dividend. The Board proposed to pay an ordinary dividend of 3.00 Swiss francs per 1 A share, a 9% increase in the ordinary dividend over the prior year. The dividend will be payable following the Annual General Meeting scheduled to take place in Geneva on September 10. In the year, profit attributable to owners of the parent company grew 17% to 2.75 billion euros from last year's 2.36 billion euros. Earnings per share reached 4.671 euros, compared to 4.077 euros last year. Sonova gained about 2.85% and Alcon climbed nearly 2.5%. Sandoz Group advanced 1.8%. Kuehne + Nagel, Lonza Group, Novartis, Swisscom, Sika and Roche Holdings gained 1 to 1.3%. Adecco, Swiss Re, Lindt & Spruengli, Swatch Group and Partners Group closed lower by 0.6 to 1.1%.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Friday thanks to easing trade tensions following the announcement of the U.S.-China deal earlier in the week, and reports that the EU bloc's talks with the U.S. for a reduction in tariffs are making positive progress. Investors also assessed the likely interest rate moves by central banks in upcoming meetings. In Europe, Latvian ECB Governing Council member Martins Kazaks indicated market pricing of a 25bps cut at the June 5 meeting is 'relatively appropriate'. The pan European Stoxx 600 closed 0.42% higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.59% up, at more than a month high. Germany's DAX climbed 0.3% to a fresh record closing high, and France's CAC 40 settled at an over 1-month high, gaining 0.42%. Switzerland's SMI finished stronger by 0.88%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed higher. Denmark, Ireland and Poland ended weak, while Sweden closed flat. In the UK market, British American Tobacco gained about 3.5%. B&M European Value Retail, GSK, Scottish Mortgage, F&C Investment Trust, AstraZeneca, Pershing Square Holdings, JD Sports Fashion, Natwest Group, Vodafone Group, United Utilities and National Grid gained 1.4 to 2.5%. BP, Barratt Redrow, Imperial Brands, Taylor Wimpey and Admiral Group also ended notably higher. Anglo American Plc shares closed more than 3% down. Melrose Industries, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Glencore, Kingfisher, Endeavour Mining and Croda International also ended notably lower. Workspace Group shares closed down nearly 6.5% as the landlord foresees a trading profit headwind of approximately £7 million by March 2026.

United States
After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday. The major averages all climbed firmly into positive territory after closing mixed for two straight sessions. The major averages ended the day near their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 331.99 points or 0.8 percent to 42,654.74, the S&P 500 climbed 41.45 points or 0.7 percent to 5,958.38 and the Nasdaq rose 98.78 points or 0.5 percent to 19,211.10. For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq soared by 7.2 percent, the S&P 500 spiked by 5.3 percent and the Dow surged by 3.4 percent. Stocks continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has propelled the major averages to their best closing levels in over two months. Monday's news of a U.S.-China trade deal temporarily slashing steep tariffs on each other's goods generated considerable buying interest that has carried over throughout much of the week. While uncertainty remains about the U.S. and its trade partners reaching deals that permanently lower tariffs, traders have continued to express optimism. Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off preliminary data from the University of Michigan showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly continued to deteriorate in the month of May. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index dipped to 50.8 in May after slumping to 52.2 in April. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 53.4. Biotechnology stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2.5 percent. Significant strength also emerged among healthcare stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Healthcare Index. Utilities, housing and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Asia
East Asian and Australian stock markets tend to be weak in late trading on Monday. They are thus following the US equity futures market, which is clearly in the red. This is because the USA has lost its last top credit rating, the triple-A rating. Citing high budget deficits and rising interest costs, the rating agency Moody's lowered its credit rating for the country by one notch to Aa1. This also depressed the US dollar.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after an early advance but still closed modestly higher. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year notes, which moves opposite of its price, edged down 1.4 basis points to 4.441 percent.

Analysis
BoA lowers Siemens to EUR 255 (265) – Buy
BoA raises Erste Group to EUR 83 (69) – Buy
UBS lowers Orior to CHF 15 (18.50) – Sell