Remy Cointreau withdrew its targets for fiscal 2030 as it warned that tariff and macroeconomic uncertainty cloud its outlook. The maker of Remy Martin cognac and Cointreau orange liqueur said Wednesday that it seeks to return to mid-single-digit sales growth on an organic basis in fiscal 2026, after two years of double-digit declines, but that further increases in custom duties in the U.S. and China would threaten this. The company is targeting a return to growth after a challenging few years for the sector. Demand has waned after a boom in alcohol consumption during the pandemic, and a weak Chinese economy hit sales. The European drinks industry has also been in the crosshairs from Chinese and U.S. tariffs as part of broader trade disputes. Over the longer-term, the conditions required to maintain Remy Cointreau’s fiscal 2030 targets are no longer in place, it said. It cited a lack of macroeconomic visibility, geopolitical uncertainties surrounding U.S and China tariff policies, as well as a lack of recovery in the U.S. Remy Cointreau said its incoming chief executive officer, Franck Marilly, will establish his own strategic roadmap. Marilly is expected to start June 25.

After a somewhat sluggish start, Swiss stocks gained in strength Wednesday morning and stayed firm right till the end of the session to sign off on a positive note. The benchmark SMI settled with a gain of 58.88 points or 0.48% at 12,298.50, off the day's high of 12,338.98. VAT Group climbed 2.3%, and Givaudan gained 1.86%. Straumann Holding, SIG Group, Roche Holding, Geberit, Kuehne + Nagel and Swatch Group advanced 1 to 1.5%. ABB climbed about 1.2%. ABB said that it will deploy its distributed control system to boost the critical operations of the three main central water treatment plants at Ezz Steel's steelmaking facility in Alexandria, Egypt. Sonova, Novartis, Sandoz Group, Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Life Holding and Schindler Ps also ended higher. UBS Group ended down 2.03%. Julius Baer closed lower by 1.32%. Lindt & Spruengli, Adecco and Lonza Group ended with modest losses.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Wednesday amid slightly easing concerns about a trade war after EU trade chief said talks with the U.S. were advancing in the right direction. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.51%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.19%, Germany's DAX ended 0.71% up, and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.58%. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.48% up. Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Portugal and Spain ended weak. In the German market, Infineon Technologies rallied nearly 4.5%. Deutsche Post gained about 2.3%. Symrise, Beiersdorf, Siemens, Brenntag, Qiagen, E.ON, Bayer, Heidelberg Materials, Merck and Henkel gained 1 to 2%. Deutsche Bank, Puma, Adidas, Sartorius, Zalando, Mercedes-Benz and Rheinmetall closed weak. In the French market, STMicroElectronics soared nearly 12% after the company's chief executive Jean-Marc Chery said that the French-Italian chipmaker has seen signs of an upcycle that will boost its results in the coming quarters. Speaking at an event hosted by BNP Paribas, the CEO said the company would deliver at least the mid-point of its second-quarter guidance. It had forecast revenue of $2.71 billion at mid-point for the quarter in its last earnings report. Pernod Ricard, Kering, Teleperformance and L'Oreal gained 2.3 to 3.2%. Airbus Group shares climbed more than 2% after Bloomberg News reported that China is considering placing an order for hundreds of Airbus SE aircraft as soon as next month. Saint Gobain, Dassault Systemes, Schneider Electric, Air Liquide, ArcelorMittal and LVMH also closed with strong gains. Carrefour closed down by about 2.5%. Thales, Michelin, TotalEnergies, Unibail Rodamco, Societe Generale and Renault lost 1 to 1.6%. In the UK market, Babcock International climbed 4.3%. Games Workshop and Antofagasta gained about 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively.

United States
After moving mostly higher over the two previous sessions, stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed. While the Dow dipped 91.90 points or 0.2 percent to 42,427.74, the S&P 500 inched up 0.44 points or 0.1 percent to 5,970.81 and the Nasdaq rose 61.53 points or 0.3 percent to 19,460.49. Despite the choppy trading, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again reached their best closing levels in well over three months. The lackluster performance on Wall Street came following the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data. While the data raised concerns about the strength of the economy, it also generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of May. ADP said private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs in May after climbing by a downwardly revised 60,000 jobs in April. Broadcom was up 1.7% at $261.08. Shares of the semiconductor and software company rose 3.3% on Tuesday to a record closing high of $256.85. Broadcom is scheduled to report fiscal second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Citi Research’s Christopher Danely raised his price target on Broadcom to $275 from $210 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing strong demand for AI processors. Shares of Wells Fargo dropped 0.4% after rising earlier in the session. The Federal Reserve lifted the growth restriction it imposed on the country’s third-largest bank following a fake-accounts scandal that surfaced in 2016. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors voted to remove the restriction that had capped the bank’s assets at just under $2 trillion.

Asia
Following a slightly positive lead from Wall Street, the stock markets in East Asia were mixed in the course of trading on Thursday, with mostly minor changes. The outlier was Seoul, where the Kospi rose by 1.3 per cent, continuing the rally of the previous day. The driver is the prospect of a more stable political situation following the national crisis of recent months, after the centre-left politician Lee Jae Myung was elected as the new president on Tuesday. In his inaugural speech, Lee announced, among other things, that he intends to set up a communication channel with North Korea.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher in reaction to the latest U.S. economic data. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, plunged 9.5 basis points to 4.365 percent.

Analysis
UBS lowers the Comet target to CHF 274 (280) – Buy
UBS lowers the VAT target to CHF 325 (350) – Neutral
Dt. Bank raises the Banco BPM target to EUR 11.30 (10.60) – Buy