The FuW Morning Report from December 27, 2024: What you need to know about today’s trading day

Overnight

USA

After a day and a half break, Wall Street resumed trading on Boxing Day. US stock markets barely moved in thin trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Index closed somewhat firmer at 43,325 points. The market breadth S&P 500 stagnated at 6037 points, and the technology-heavy one Nasdaq 100 fell slightly by 0.1% to 21,768 points. Yields on 10-year US government bonds, which rose to their highest level since early May, curbed investors’ appetite to buy.

There was good news from the economy: the number of initial weekly applications for unemployment benefits surprisingly fell. Economists had expected an increase. In addition, US consumers apparently spent more money during the Christmas season than expected. Mastercard said retail sales rose 3.8% from early November to Christmas Eve. An increase of only 3.2% was forecast.

The shares of Uber fell by 0.2%. The sale of the Delivery Hero subsidiary Food Panda in Taiwan to Uber has fallen through. The competition authorities there prohibited the deal. The US driving and delivery service Uber wanted to acquire the Food Panda business for almost $1 billion and take a stake in Delivery Hero.

Asia/Pacific

The Asian stock markets are ending the Christmas week on a positive note. The prospect of a change in interest rates is driving the Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 up a good 2% to more than 40,000 points, the highest level since mid-December. According to minutes of its most recent meeting, the Bank of Japan could raise interest rates as early as January 2025. Shares of export-oriented companies benefit from the weak yen. The titles of Toyota rose 2.1%, gaining for the third day in a row. The valuables of Sony gain 1.7%.

The mood on the Chinese stock markets is much more cautious. The Shanghai Composite increases only moderately, by 0.2% CSI 300 Index in Shenzhen is quoted almost unchanged. Also that one Hang Seng in Hong Kong is not moving. Continuing concerns about China’s economic recovery are slowing the stock markets. The mood in Seoul is even worse: the Korean one Kospi falls by 0.9%. In contrast, the Indian one is rising Nifty 50 by 0.6%. The Australian one S&P/ASX 200 increases by 0.5% at the end of Christmas week.

Futures

The futures contracts on the most important international stock indices indicate a good start to trading. The futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 are 0.5% plus. In contrast, the futures are on the S&P 500 almost 0.3% in the red.

News pre-market Switzerland

Nestle: The consumer goods company has ended its share buyback program. Within just under three years, 187.4 million titles were bought back for 20 billion Swiss francs, he announced on Monday evening after the stock market closed. The average price was 106.74 francs, significantly higher than the current rate (74.08 francs). At the last general meetings in 2022, 2023 and 2024, 144 million shares were canceled. The cancellation of the remaining 43.5 million titles will be decided at the 2025 general meeting.

Alcon: The ophthalmology group has recalled several individual bottles of the product Systane Lubricant Eye Drops Ultra PF due to suspected fungal contamination. As the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Monday evening, Alcon had discovered fungi in an individual bottle following a complaint from consumers. Fungal contamination of an ophthalmic product could cause eye infections that threaten vision or even be life-threatening.

Relief: The biotech company is making good progress with its planned merger with the American Renexxion. It reported significant progress in negotiations on Friday morning. A merger agreement could be signed in the first quarter of 2025. But there is no guarantee of an agreement. In November, Relief and Renexxion signed a letter of intent for a reverse merger. Read more about it here.

Wisekey: The Wisekey subsidiary Sealsq is allowed to remain on the Nasdaq. Shares have closed trading above the $1 level for the past 10 trading days through Dec. 24. This means they once again meet Nasdaq’s requirements for the minimum offer price, the company announced on Thursday evening. A few weeks ago there was a threat of exclusion from the Nasdaq.

Xlife: The investment company is likely to benefit from the sale of one of its portfolio companies. Fuse-AI GmbH, in which Xlife Sciences holds 42.5% shares, is to be taken over by the British Pineapple Power Corporation. It is expected to be valued at €80 to €90 million. If the transaction goes through, Fuse-AI would expand its technological leadership in the medical AI space.

Avolta: The travel retailer destroyed 6.1 million shares – around 4% of its share capital – as of December 17th. He announced this on Monday evening after the market closed. This decision was announced with the publication of the third quarter figures.

Julius Baer pre-market prices

Important events of December 27, 2024

Switzerland

International

economic situation

Outlook – Company

There is little on the stock market agenda in the week around the turn of the year.

There are no stock market-related events scheduled on Monday.

The Swiss Stock Exchange SIX is closed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Published on Friday Jungfraubahn the frequencies in 2024. In January 2024, the company announced that it had transported more than 1 million guests to the Jungfraujoch for the first time since the corona pandemic. The group then presented record results in the first half of the year and has probably remained on the recovery path since then.

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