PepsiCo Inc. posted a nearly 11% rise in sales for the fourth quarter as higher prices for its beverages and snacks continued to offset rising costs. The beverage maker said Thursday that it expects continued growth this year, with organic revenue, which strips out the effects of foreign-currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, projected to rise 6%. Adjusted earnings, which exclude one-time items, are expected to increase 8% in 2023 to $7.20 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $7.27 a share this year. Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta said the company expects inflationary pressures to persist throughout the year. It is also closely watching how consumers fare in a choppy economy. "While consumers remain resilient, we are diligently monitoring spending patterns and behaviors in this dynamic and volatile macroeconomic environment," Mr. Laguarta said in prepared remarks.

After a positive start and a subsequent retreat, the Switzerland stock market rallied higher Thursday morning, but slipped into the red around mid afternoon and finally ended the day's session on a weak note. The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 11,336.22 around noon, ended the session with a loss of 58.55 points or 0.52% at 11,217.73. Credit Suisse tanked 14.73% as the bank posted its worst annual loss since 2008 and warned of more losses this year. The lender reported a pre-tax loss of more than 1.3 billion Swiss francs (about $1.4 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year, as its new managers vie to right the top-drawer Swiss bank that has faced a string of setbacks in recent years. Sonova drifted down 3.52%. Zurich Insurance Group and Givaudan ended lower by 2.72% and 2.6%, respectively. Lonza Group ended 1.43% down, and Nestle lost 1.25%. Roche Holding ended lower by 0.75%. Swisscom rallied 3.4%. Richemont gained nearly 2%, and ABB ended 1.56% up. UBS Group, Geberit and Holcim gained 0.8 to 1%. In the Mid Price Index, Zur Rose dropped 4.64%. Straumann Holdings and SIG Combibloc ended lower by 1.61% and 1.35%, respectively.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as the mood remained positive thanks to some encouraging earnings updates and expectations of a milder-than-expected recession. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.62%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.33%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.72% and France's CAC 40 surged 0.96%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.52% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended higher. Spain edged up marginally, while Finland, Norway and Sweden closed weak. In the UK market, Standard Chartered soared nearly 11.5%. AstraZeneca rallied more than 4%. BP surged 2.34%, while Burberry Group, St. Jame's Place, DCC, ABRDN, Ashtead Group, Legal & General Group, Hargreaves Lansdown and Barratt Developments gained 1 to 1.4%. Entain tanked 14% after MGM Resorts CEO and president, Bill Hornbuckle ruled out a move for Entain. Glencore, BT Group, British American Tobacco, Fresnillo, Endeavour Mining, Smith & Nephew, Compass Group, Segro, Experian, Convatec Group and Vodafone Group lost 1 to 4%. In the German market, Siemens surged about 7%. Fresenius climbed nearly 4%. Siemens Energy, Infineon Technologies, HeidelbergCement, Daimler and Brenntag gained 2 to 3%. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Boerse, Adidas and Vonovia also ended notably higher. Bayer drifted down more than 3%. Fresenius Medical Care dropped 2.8% and Symrise ended lower by about 2.2%. Hannover Rueck, Siemens Healthineers, Linde, Qiagen, Sartorius and RWE lost 1 to 2%. Delivery Hero plunged more than 9% after the food-delivery firm reported slightly lower-than-expected gross merchandise value (GMV) for 2022.

U.S. stocks on Thursday extended recent losses, pausing their year-to-date rebound as investors debated the outlook for interest rates and reviewed another batch of corporate earnings. The three major indexes opened higher, but turned lower intraday. The S&P 500 fell 0.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.7%, about 250 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1%, after being up as much as 1.3% at its intraday high. Stocks rallied to start the new year, with some investors embracing the idea that the Federal Reserve could begin to lower interest rates this year as inflation moderates. Walt Disney stock jumped early Thursday after the entertainment giant said in its earnings call late Wednesday that it plans to slash jobs and cut $5.5 billion in costs. The stock turned lower after activist investor Nelson Peltz said he is calling off his proxy fight with the media giant. By 4 p.m. ET, Disney shares were down 1.3%. Mattel shares sank 11%, after the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars said quarterly sales fell 22% as cash-strapped consumers pulled back on spending. Elsewhere, shares of heavily-weighted Alphabet Inc. fell for a second consecutive session Thursday, down 4.4%, as investors continued to weigh the tech giant's artificial-intelligence products in comparison with competition from the likes of Microsoft. The Google parent company has lost roughly $170 billion in market value over the last two days, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The stock exchanges in East Asia and Australia are mainly in the red on Friday. The Nikkei 225 index gains 0.2 per cent. Among the individual stocks, Tokyo Electron rises by around 4 per cent after the company raised its annual sales and profit targets. Nippon Steel's nine-month figures (+4.9 per cent) are also well received. Financial stocks benefit from higher US bond yields. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gains 1.6% and Resona Holdings 1.1%.

Yields on U.S. government bonds rose, pressuring stocks. The benchmark 10-year yield moved higher to 3.682%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

CS raises the ABN Amro target to EUR 20 (17) – Outperf.
CS lowers the Adyen target to EUR 1,650 (1,950) – Outperf.
UBS lowers the Vodafone target to 115 (120) p – Buy

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