UBS Group said it is launching a share buyback of up to $2 billion, delivering on its plans to hand money back to shareholders after the Swiss government proposed tougher capital rules for the bank earlier this month. The Swiss banking giant said Monday that the buyback program would start on Tuesday and that it intended to repurchase up to $2 billion of shares in the second half of the year. The latest buyback came after UBS completed a $2 billion program it launched in April last year, which included repurchases of $1 billion in the first half of this year. The bank had reaffirmed its capital-return ambitions for the year as recently as this month, in the wake of Switzerland’s announcement that it would propose new, stricter capital rules for the bank in an effort to prevent another Credit Suisse-style meltdown. UBS said it would share its plans for 2026 capital returns at the time it reports fourth-quarter results early next year.

The Switzerland market closed on a firm note on Friday, in line with markets across Europe, as trade tensions eased following the U.S. and China reaching an agreement. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 12,024.89, closed up 100.38 points or 0.84% at 11,980.38. ABB climbed about 4.3% and Holcim gained 3.1%, while VAT Group, Logitech International, Richemont, Sika and Partners Group closed up 2 to 2.25%. Geberit, Adecco, Julius Baer, Straumann Holding, Kuehne + Nagel, UBS Group, Swatch Group, SGS, Schindler Ps, Sandoz Group and SIG Group ended higher by 0.9 to 1.8%. Amrize ended down 1.01%. Roche Holding and Sonova edged down marginally. Eurozone economic sentiment deteriorated unexpectedly in June, survey data from the European Commission showed. The economic confidence index fell to 94.0 in June from 94.8 in May. The score was forecast to rise to 95.1. The industrial confidence index posted -12.0 in June, down from -10.4 a month ago. The reading was seen at -9.9. Likewise, the consumer confidence indicator dropped to -15.3, in line with the flash estimate, from -15.1 in May.

Europe
European stocks closed higher on Friday as trade tensions eased after United States struck a deal with China to expedite rate earth shipments. The deal marks a significant step towards resolving the ongoing trade war between the world's two largest economies. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.89%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, Germany's DAX closed 0.79% up and France's CAC 40 jumped 1.4%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.84% up. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher. Poland edged up marginally, while Greece and Iceland ended weak. In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion climbed more than 7.5%. Ashtead Group ended 5.55% up. Melrose Industries, Standard Chartered, IMI, Barclays, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Taylor Wimpey, Experian, IAG, Informa, Natwest Group and Rentokil Initial gained 1 to 3.6%. Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo both ended lower by more than 4%. Babcock International, BAE Systems and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners ended down 1 to 1.7%. In the German market, Porsche rallied more than 7.6%. Daimler Truck Holding climbed 6.1% and BMW gained about 5.3%. Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Volkswagen, Adidas, Heidelberg Materials, Siemens, Deutsche Post and Puma gained 3 to 5%. Siemens Energy, Bayer, SAP, BASF, Vonovia, Deutsche Bank and Sartorius also closed with strong gains, while Rheinmetall ended down 4.4%. In the French market, Schneider Electric moved up 6.5%. Kering gained about 5.6%, while Stellantis and Legrand gained 4.7% and 4.3%, respectively.

United States
After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages showed wild swings as the day progressed, although the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq still managed to end the day at new record closing highs. The major averages moved to the upside going into the close after an early afternoon pullback. The Dow jumped 432.43 points or 1.0 percent at 43,819.27, the Nasdaq climbed 105.55 points or 0.5 percent to 20,273.46 and the S&P 500 rose 32.05 points or 0.5 percent to 6,173.07. Optimism about new trade deals contributed to the early rally on Wall Street after President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. had signed an agreement with China. A White House official later clarified that the U.S. and China have agreed to 'an additional understanding of a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.' A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce subsequently said the two sides have 'confirmed the details of the framework.' Retail stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Retail Index up by 1.8 percent to its best closing level in over four months. Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 4.0 percent.

Asia
Positive US guidance and speculation of favourable trade agreements with the US before the deadline set by President Trump on 9 July caused prices to rise on the stock exchanges in East Asia on Monday. Meanwhile, new economic data from China came in close to expectations and barely moved the markets. As expected, the Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector remained in contraction territory in June, but at least improved slightly compared to the previous month, while the index for the service sector slightly exceeded expectations and remains just above the threshold that signals growth. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan rose by 1.5 per cent to 40,745 points and reached a one-year high. Contrary to expectations, industrial production in Japan rose only slightly in May.

Bonds
In the U.S. bond market, treasuries gave back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 3.0 basis points to 4.283 percent.

Analysis
HSBC lowers ABB to CHF 45 (48) – Hold
HSBC lowers Schneider to EUR 240 (250) – Buy
UBS raises BT Group to 135 (120) p – Sell