The European Commission fined food delivery companies Delivery Hero and Glovo 329 million euros ($373.4 million) over what it said were cartel practices before Delivery Hero acquired a controlling stake in its Spanish competitor in 2022. The European Union antitrust regulator said on Monday that it fined the companies after it found they had agreed not to steal each other’s staff, shared commercially sensitive information with each other and carved up geographic markets between themselves within the EU for four years. Delivery Hero held a minority stake in Glovo from July 2018 and took full control of the company in July 2022. “Cartels like this reduce choice for consumers and business partners, reduce opportunities for employees and reduce incentives to compete and innovate,” the commission said. Delivery Hero received the highest penalty with a 223.29 million euros fine. Glovo was fined 105.73 million euros. It is the first time the commission has penalized companies for drawing up so-called no-poach agreements, where they decide not to compete for workers, and the first time it has issued a sanction to a company for using its stake in a competitor to influence its behavior. The EU executive started investigating the companies in July last year over concerns they had violated the bloc’s competition rules by sharing sensitive information and divvying up markets before Delivery Hero increased its stake in Glovo.

The Swiss market ended weak on Monday after languishing in negative territory almost right through the day's session as geopolitical tensions and tariff concerns weighed on sentiment. The benchmark SMI closed down 28.90 points or 0.24% at 12,198.18. The index touched a low of 12,132.19 in the session. Partners Group drifted down 2.3%. Adecco, Logitech International, Sika, Alcon, Sonova, Straumann Holding and Richemont lost 1 to 1.7%. SIG Group, ABB, Nestle, VAT Group, Kuehne + Nagel, SGS and Swatch Group also closed weak. Novartis climbed 1.12%. Geberit, Givaudan and Swiss Re also closed higher. On the economic front, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Switzerland's gross domestic product expanded by an adjusted 0.8% sequentially after rising 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, thanks to a notable rebound in exports to the US ahead of expected tariff hikes. On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 2.2% from 1.3% a quarter ago. On the expenditure-side, private consumption rose at a slower pace of 0.2% after a 0.5% gain. Likewise, the increase in government spending slowed to 0.4% from 0.6%. On an unadjusted basis, GDP expanded 0.5% quarterly and 2% on a yearly basis in the first quarter.

Europe
European stocks closed weak on Monday as rising trade tensions due to China and the U.S. accusing each other of violating trade agreement, and the Trump administration's announcement that it would double the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50% from June 4th. Lingering concerns about Europe-Ukraine conflict weighed as well on sentiment. Investors also digested regional economic data, and looked ahead to some crucial economic reports from the U.S. later in the week. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.14%. Germany's DAX closed down 0.28% and France's CAC 40 drifted lower by 0.19% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 crept up 0.02%. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and Spain ended higher. Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed weak. In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding closed down 3.4%. Sartorius, Rheinmetall, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Beiersdorf, Volkswagen, Brenntag, Continental, Siemens Healthineers and Infineon lost 1.3 to 3%. Zalando climbed nearly 2.5%. Fresenius, Siemens Energy, Bayer, Munich RE, Heidelberg Materials and Hannover Rueck gained 1 to 2%. In the French market, Stellantis closed down 4.5%. Publicis Groupe, Renault, Edenred, Accor, Dassault Systemes, STMicroElectronics, Vivendi, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard and Hermes International lost 1 to 4%. TotalEnergies rallied 2%. Vinci, Societe Generale, Thales, AXA, Veolia and Engie gained 0.8 to 2%. In the UK market, Ashtead Group lost about 4%. WPP ended nearly 3% down. Taylor Wimpey, JD Sports Fashion, Spirax Group, Diploma, IMI, Melrose Industries, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Standard Chartered, Diageo, Barratt Redrow and AstraZeneca ended lower by 1 to 2.2%.

United States
Stocks came under pressure early in the session on Monday but showed a notable turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory. The major averages saw further upside going into the end of the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq climbed 128.85 points or 0.7 percent at 19,242.61, the S&P 500 rose 24.25 points or 0.4 percent to 5,935.94 and the Dow inched up 35.41 points or 0.1 percent to 42,305.38. The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflected renewed trade concerns amid further signs of rising tensions between the U.S. and China. China on Monday pushed back against President Donald Trump's claims that it had broken the Geneva trade agreement, accusing the U.S. of violating the deal with increased tech export restrictions and the revocation of Chinese student visas. Gold stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index soaring by 6.0 percent. Trump's increased tariffs on U.S. steel imports also contributed to substantial strength among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Semiconductor, natural gas and oil service stocks also moved notably higher over the course of the session, while some weakness remained visible among housing stocks. BioNTech and Bristol Myers Squibb have agreed to jointly develop and commercialize BioNTech’s BNT327 cancer-drug candidate in a deal potentially worth more than $11 billion to the German drugmaker. Shares of BioNTech, which closed Friday at $95.81, rose 14% to $109.54 in premarket trading Monday. As part of the deal, Bristol Myers will make a $1.5 billion upfront payment to BioNTech, along with $2 billion in non-contingent anniversary payments through 2028, the companies said Monday. BioNTech is also eligible to receive up to $7.6 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestones payments, they said.

Asia
The Asian stock markets rose slightly in the course of trading on Tuesday after the US stock markets ended the day on a favourable note on Monday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 rose by 0.3 per cent. The S&P/ASX-200 followed Wall Street's positive lead and rose by half a per cent. In Shanghai, the Composite Index rises by 0.5 per cent. It is thus unaffected by weak economic data from China.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries came under pressure over the course of the session after ending last Friday's trading little changed. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 4.6 basis points to 4.462 percent.

Analysis
Deutsche Bank lowers Barry Callebaut target to CHF 1,000 (1,400) – Buy
JPMorgan raises AMS-Osram target to CHF 8.90 (8.70) – Neutral
UBS lowers Freenet target to EUR 30.50 (33) – Neutral