Category: 3. Business

(Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 is set to continue its advance toward a new all-time high as the prospect of interest-rate cuts and confidence in the economy fuel investors’ appetite for risk.

Futures on the US benchmark rose on Friday after the index closed within 0.5% of a fresh record. The gauge is set for its first back-to-back weekly gain since October, signaling that traders are shaking off November’s jitters over valuations and the lack of visibility on the economy during the data blackout.

Nasdaq 100 contracts climbed 0.4%, while European and Asian gauges also added to the week’s gains. A measure of volatility dropped to the lowest since October. The dollar slipped, while Treasuries steadied. Bitcoin nudged lower toward $91,000.

With a rate cut next week largely priced in and bets pointing to further easing into 2026, investors are gearing up for a year-end rally in what is typically a supportive month for stocks. Growing confidence that the US economy remains resilient, despite softer employment, is also prompting rotations into stocks that tend to benefit from domestic strength.

“Santa will bring presents for everybody, toys for the kids and gains for investors,” said Stephan Kemper, chief investment strategist at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. “Apart from the regular seasonality there are plenty of other reasons supporting the market: rate cuts and ongoing M&A activity are some of them.”

Later on Friday, markets will a get a dated reading on the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. The figures will include the personal consumption expenditures price index and a core measure that excludes food and energy.

Economist project a third-straight 0.2% increase in the core index for September. That would keep the year-over-year figure hovering a little below 3%, a sign that inflationary pressures are stable, yet sticky.

While the data is unlikely to derail a December rate cut, it “may change the tone from Chairman Powell,” said Wolf von Rotberg, equity strategist at Bank J Safra Sarasin. “If he emphasizes inflation risks in his press conference, markets may reprice the rate trajectory for 2026, thereby increasing the pressure on the long end of the curve and on equity market valuations.”

The September income and spending report — also delayed because of a government shutdown — is due to be released as well.

In a sign that institutional appetite for the world’s largest cryptocurrency remains subdued, BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust recorded its longest streak of weekly withdrawals since debuting in January 2024.

Investors pulled more than $2.7 billion from the exchange-traded fund over the five weeks to Nov. 28, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With an additional $113 million of redemptions on Thursday, the ETF is now on pace for a sixth straight week of net outflows.

In commodities, copper rose to a record after a bullish price outlook from Citigroup Inc. and expectations of a shortage caused by stockpiling in the US. Gold headed for the biggest gain in a week. Brent crude fluctuated near $63 a barrel.

Corporate News

Health-care group Cooper Cos’ shares jumped in premarket trading after a guidance beat and the launch of a strategic review. Moore Threads Technology Co., a leading Chinese artificial intelligence chipmaker, soared as much as 502% in its Shanghai debut after raising 8 billion yuan ($1.13 billion) in an IPO. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. has entered exclusive negotiations to sell its film and TV studios and HBO Max streaming service to Netflix Inc., according to people familiar with the discussions. Nvidia Corp. would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday in a bid to codify existing US restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors to the Chinese market. Swiss Re AG announced its first share buyback in five years while disclosing a $250 million charge. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% as of 10:43 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.8% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1649 The Japanese yen was little changed at 155.09 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0674 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3338 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.8% to $91,427.4 Ether rose 0.7% to $3,144.68 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.11% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.78% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.44% Commodities

Brent crude fell 0.1% to $63.17 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,224.07 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Neil Campling and Sidhartha Shukla.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) received a prestigious award from the Association for the Defence of Trademarks (ANDEMA), Spain’s leading industrial property body, in recognition of its outstanding commitment to combating counterfeiting and defending intellectual and industrial property rights across Europe.  

The award was presented during a ceremony held on 27 November in Barcelona, as part of the European Industrial Property Forum. OLAF accepted the honour, underscoring its enduring role in safeguarding a fair, safe and competitive European market.  

“ANDEMA’s recognition is a tribute to the work carried out by OLAF across borders to uphold legality and protect fundamental rights in the internal market. It also reinforces the importance of sustained cooperation with our partners. Our joint expertise and commitment make it possible to fight against increasingly sophisticated counterfeit networks,” said Ernesto Bianchi, Director of Investigations and International Operations at OLAF. 

OLAF’s work in protecting intellectual property and tackling counterfeits is essential for building trust among EU citizens, businesses and institutions. Counterfeits undermine legitimate economic activity and erode confidence in the internal market. Even more worrisome, counterfeits pose serious risks to consumer health and safety, as well as to the environment, because they often bypass quality controls, use hazardous materials and generate untraceable waste. By coordinating effective, cross-border actions with partners such as EUIPO, customs authorities and international stakeholders, OLAF helps ensure that European industry and consumers are shielded from the damaging effects of counterfeits.

In recent years, OLAF has stepped up joint efforts with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in strategic initiatives tackling some of the most pressing threats such as online counterfeiting and e-commerce fraud, counterfeiting of construction materials as well as everyday products. 

Background

Counterfeits pose a wide range of risks. Beyond economic harm, counterfeits can threaten consumer health and safety, distort competition, and damage technological innovation and job creation. OLAF’s interventions help preserve consumer trust in markets and foster a level playing field for businesses of all sizes. 

Through its investigations, partnerships and anti-fraud strategy, OLAF continues to support a European marketplace that rewards creativity, safeguards legality and protects consumer confidence.

ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a European Union regulation designed to ensure that financial entities—such as banks, insurance companies, and investment firms—and their critical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) providers can withstand and recover from technology disruptions, including cyber incidents and technical failures.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) was recently designated by the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, ESMA) as a critical ICT third-party provider under DORA. This designation reflects the essential role that technology providers like IBM play in supporting the resilience of Europe’s financial sector.

The objective is clear: strengthen operational resilience across Europe’s financial ecosystem, mitigate systemic risk, and ensure trust in the stability and security of digital services.

What This Means for IBM and our Clients

IBM has long been a trusted partner to the world’s financial services firms, with decades of experience supporting the financial sector and collaborating with financial regulators and oversight bodies worldwide.

This designation places IBM in-scope for supervision by European Supervisory Authorities as a critical third-party provider, and we will work closely with the ESAs to ensure operational and technical resilience that is critical to Europe’s financial system.

For our clients, this designation reinforces IBM’s longstanding commitment to operational resilience and regulatory compliance. We will continue to provide guidance and resources to help financial institutions meet their own DORA obligations while maintaining innovation and competitiveness.

Ahead of DORA’s implementation, we have worked across our technology and services units to address requirements for both IBM and our clients, contributing to an EU-wide framework that protects the stability of Europe’s financial system. We continually strengthen our cybersecurity technologies, defenses, and governance worldwide to meet the highest standards of security and operational resilience.

We look forward to constructive engagement with the European Supervisory Authorities and to drawing on our deep expertise in risk management, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance to help clients navigate evolving requirements with confidence.

Our priorities include:

• Collaborating with regulators to ensure compliance and transparency
• Supporting financial institutions in meeting their own DORA obligations
• Investing in resilience to safeguard stability and trust in digital services

Together, we can help Europe’s financial ecosystem remain secure, resilient, and ready for the future. 

Learn more:

About IBM 

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

For more information, visit https://research.ibm.com.

Media contact:

Lobna Hassan

IBM

lobna.hassan@ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

Edinburgh Airport halts flights due to ‘IT issue’ with air traffic control providerpublished at 10:17 GMT

10:17 GMT

As we’ve been reporting, Edinburgh Airport has halted flights due to an IT issue with their air traffic control provider.

The airport posted the message below on social media a short while ago.

No time frames have been given beyond the fact that teams are looking to resolve the issue “as soon as possible”.

We’ll bring you more on this developing situation as we get it – stick with us.

Image source, Edinburgh Airport/X

• The Basel Committee has published a consultation on a standard format for machine-readable disclosures by banks.
• The proposed standard format would make existing disclosure by banks more accessible and easier to aggregate.
• Comments on the proposals are requested by 5 March 2026.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today published a consultative document proposing additions to its disclosure standard to make the data disclosed by banks (so-called Pillar 3 disclosures) available in a machine-readable format.

Pillar 3 disclosures by internationally active banks under the Basel Committee’s standards are an important source of their key risk metrics. Most banks, however, currently publish their disclosures in PDF format only, which makes it difficult to aggregate, process and compare data across banks.

To make Pillar 3 disclosure data more accessible, the Committee is proposing that they should be made available in standardised machine-readable formats across its member jurisdictions. The proposed standard would introduce a requirement and technical specifications to produce machine-readable quantitative Pillar 3 disclosures, without changing the underlying disclosure requirements for banks. National supervisors would decide whether banks should publish machine-readable Pillar 3 disclosures on their own websites or via a centralised data repository.

It is also envisaged that the proposed standard would not increase burdens on banks in jurisdictions where machine-readable Pillar 3 disclosures are already required. Instead, existing approaches would be integrated into the proposed global standard.

The Committee welcomes comments on the proposed additions to the standard covering machine-readable quantitative Pillar 3 disclosures, which should be submitted here by 5 March 2026. All submissions will be published on the BIS website unless a respondent specifically requests confidential treatment.

---

Note to editors

The Basel Committee is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for cooperation on banking supervisory matters. Its mandate is to strengthen the regulation, supervision and practices of banks worldwide with the purpose of enhancing financial stability. The Committee reports to the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision and seeks its endorsement for major decisions. The Committee has no formal supranational authority, and its decisions have no legal force. Rather, the Committee relies on its members’ commitments to achieve its mandate. The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision is chaired by Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada. The Basel Committee is chaired by Erik Thedéen, Governor of Sveriges Riksbank. 

More information about the Basel Committee is available here.

In September 2025, compared with August, the total market production increased by 0.4% in the EU and by 0.1% in the euro area.

The total market production index (TMPI) is a composite indicator that combines 4 short-term business statistics indicators covering most of the market economy, i.e. production in industry, construction and services as well as the trade volume.

The rise of the total market production in the EU in September was driven by increases in industrial production and trade volume (+0.8% and +0.6%, respectively). Construction and services production remained at the same levels as in August.

Compared with September of the previous year, total market production increased by 2.1% in the EU and by 1.8% in the euro area. 

This information comes from data on market production published by Eurostat today.

Source dataset: sts_tot_prod_m

Story Continues

• Wondering if Coca Cola at around $70 a share is still a sweet deal or if most of the upside has already been poured out? You are not alone, and that is exactly what we are going to unpack here.

• Despite a recent 3.3% pullback over the last week, the stock is still up 2.6% over 30 days, 13.9% year to date, and 54.4% over 5 years. This suggests the long term story has remained resilient even as short term sentiment wobbles.

• Much of the recent share price action has been shaped by shifting expectations around consumer staples as investors weigh sticky inflation against the appeal of defensive, cash generating brands. Coca Cola continues to feature in discussions about companies with strong pricing power and global diversification. At the same time, commentary around changing consumer preferences, from sugar free beverages to ready to drink coffee and energy drinks, has kept the debate alive about how much growth runway the company still has.

• On our numbers, Coca Cola scores a 3/6 valuation score, meaning it screens as undervalued on half of our checks. This makes it a useful case study to compare classic valuation methods, and later on we will look at a more nuanced way to think about what this stock may be worth.

Coca-Cola delivered 15.3% returns over the last year. See how this stacks up to the rest of the Beverage industry.

A Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model estimates what a business is worth today by projecting the cash it can generate in the future and then discounting those cash flows back into today’s dollars.

For Coca Cola, the latest twelve month free cash flow is about $5.6 billion. Analysts and our model expect this to rise steadily, with projections reaching roughly $11.9 billion in 2026 and continuing to climb to around $19.4 billion by 2035. Only the first few years are based on analyst forecasts, with the later years extrapolated using Simply Wall St growth assumptions.

When all those future cash flows are discounted back using a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity model, we arrive at an intrinsic value of about $89.90 per share. Compared with a market price near $70, the DCF suggests Coca Cola is trading at roughly a 21.6% discount, indicating potential upside if these cash flow projections occur as expected.

Result: UNDERVALUED

Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Coca-Cola is undervalued by 21.6%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 914 more undervalued stocks based on cash flows.

Head to the Valuation section of our Company Report for more details on how we arrive at this Fair Value for Coca-Cola.

For consistently profitable companies like Coca Cola, the price to earnings ratio is a practical way to gauge how much investors are paying for each dollar of current profits. It naturally blends expectations for future growth with perceptions of risk, since faster growing, lower risk companies usually command higher PE ratios, while slower or riskier businesses tend to trade on lower multiples.

Coca Cola currently trades on a PE of about 23.26x. That is above the Beverage industry average of roughly 17.50x, but below the broader peer group average of around 27.23x. This suggests investors see it as higher quality than the typical beverage stock but not as aggressively valued as some peers. Simply Wall St’s proprietary Fair Ratio for Coca Cola is 23.08x, which reflects what the multiple should be given its growth outlook, profitability, industry, market cap and risk profile. Because this Fair Ratio is tailored to the company’s fundamentals, it provides a more precise anchor than broad peer or industry comparisons alone.

With the actual PE only slightly above the Fair Ratio, Coca Cola’s valuation looks very close to fair value on this measure.

Result: ABOUT RIGHT

PE ratios tell one story, but what if the real opportunity lies elsewhere? Discover 1441 companies where insiders are betting big on explosive growth.

Earlier we mentioned that there is an even better way to understand valuation, so let us introduce you to Narratives, a simple way to connect your view of Coca Cola’s business with a set of numbers like future revenue, earnings, margins and a fair value estimate, then compare that to today’s share price.

A Narrative is your story behind the numbers, a concise explanation of how you think the company will grow, how profitable it can be, what risks matter most and therefore what you believe the stock is actually worth.

On Simply Wall St’s Community page, millions of investors use Narratives as an accessible tool that links a company’s story to a financial forecast and then to a fair value. This helps them quickly see whether their view suggests buy, hold or sell when set against the current price. Those Narratives are dynamically updated as new earnings, news or guidance is released.

For Coca Cola, for example, one investor Narrative might see fair value closer to $67 per share based on modest growth and a cautious view on regulation. Another might argue for a value around $78 per share by assuming stronger emerging market demand and higher long term margins. By comparing each of these fair values to the live market price, both investors get a clear, actionable signal that fits their own perspective.

For Coca-Cola, however, we will make it really easy for you with previews of two leading Coca-Cola Narratives:

🐂 Coca-Cola Bull Case

Fair value: $71.00 per share

Implied discount: -0.8%

Revenue growth assumption: 6.64%

• Sees Coca-Cola as a resilient, recession tested global brand with a decades-long dividend track record that appeals to conservative, income-focused investors.

• Expects steady growth driven by emerging markets and digital initiatives, while acknowledging risks from FX volatility, tariffs, regulation and sustainability controversies.

• Assumes stable mid 20s profit margins, ongoing buybacks and a premium P/E multiple, leading to a fair value close to today’s price and a broadly fairly valued stance.

🐻 Coca-Cola Bear Case

Fair value: $67.50 per share

Implied premium: 4.4%

Revenue growth assumption: 5.23%

• Frames Coca-Cola as a high-quality, cash-generative dividend aristocrat whose valuation is highly sensitive to small moves in discount rates.

• Models solid but moderating growth over 3, 5 and 10 year horizons, with strong free cash flow and sustained premium margins but gradually compressing valuation multiples.

• Concludes that, on a DCF view with a 6.25% discount rate, KO is trading modestly above intrinsic value, leaving only limited upside at current levels.

Do you think there’s more to the story for Coca-Cola? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include KO.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

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