Corporate results:
  • Alpha Services boosts earnings by 37% thanks to strong interest income in Q1.
  • Avolta reports Q1 sales of CHF 2.83 bn and higher Ebitda.
  • Cisco gains 5% after a strong Q1.
  • Deutsche Telekom reports higher first-quarter core earnings in all segments.
  • Siemens AG misses its earnings forecast due to difficulties in its industrial activities.
  • Swiss Re posts better-than-expected quarterly profit and withdraws from iptiQ business.
  • Syensqo beats its first-quarter core earnings forecast thanks to improved margins. 
  • Walmart was down 1.2% in pre-market trading ahead of the publication of its quarterly results.
  • Under Armour gains 1.5% in pre-market trading as its quarterly results are expected before the opening in New York.
In other news:
  • Norwegian pension fund excludes Adani Ports, L3Harris Technologies and Weichai Power from potential investments due to ethical concerns.
  • Siemens AG sells Innomotics to KPS for €3.5 bn.
  • AT&T has signed an agreement with Ast Spacemobile to provide a high-speed network from space directly to cell phones, the two companies announced on Wednesday. AST gained 36% in after-hours trading.
  • John Wood Group rejects Sidara takeover proposal at GBX 212 per share.
  • A consortium including Baywa and Elicio wins the tender for France's first floating offshore wind farm.
  • International Distributions Services (IDS), the parent company of troubled UK postal operator Royal Mail, has accepted in principle an improved £3.5 billion offer from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
  • BT Group's new CEO aims to double free cash flow in five years.
  • IBM plans to hire up to 800 more people in Ireland to help build software based on artificial intelligence (AI), state investment agency IDA Ireland said Thursday.
  • EasyJet announces that CFO Kenton Jarvis will become CEO in early 2025.
  • Roche announces first clinical success for experimental Carmot GLP-1.
  • AstraZeneca reports that the Supernova trial has met the COVID-19 prevention endpoint.
  • Sulzer acquires stake in Canadian Wealth Minerals.
  • Zehnder Group disposes of its Climate Ceiling Solutions division.
  • Berkshire Hathaway acquires stake in insurer Chubb.
  • Netflix acquires NFL games as part of its expansion into sports.
  • Amazon will invest 7.8 billion euros in cloud computing in Germany.
  • Microsoft asks hundreds of China-based employees to relocate amid tensions between the US and China, according to the WSJ.
  • IBM creates 800 AI-related jobs in Ireland.
  • Pfizer offers up to $250m to settle thousands of Zantac lawsuits, according to the FT.
  • Uber launches shuttle service to airports, stadiums and concert halls.
  • Blackbaud rejects Clearlake takeover offer.
  • Civitas Resources - The oil and gas producer announced that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Fund would halve its stake in the group.
  • Chinese group XPeng launches in France and Germany.