Swiss Market Ends Modestly Lower

The Switzerland stock market ended weak on Thursday, bucking the largely positive trend seen across global markets, as investors chose to take some profits, cashing in recent gains.

However, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, that said the Swiss economy is set to recover at a rapid pace this year helped limit losses.

Save for a brief while a few minutes past the opening bell, the benchmark SMI was down in negative territory today. The index ended the day with a loss of 26.54 points or 0.24% at 10,888.23, after moving in a tight band of about 58 points.

Credit Suisse, down nearly 4%, was the most prominent loser in the SMI. Roche Holding shares ended 1.6% down after the company said that adding its drug Actemra to Gilead Sciences’ Veklury medication did not reduce hospital stays for patients with severe Covid-19 pneumonia.

UBS Group closed lower by 1.55%, while Zurich Insurance Group slid nearly 1%.

Sika gained 2.3%, Lonza Group advanced 1.6% and Geberit gained 1.3%. Partners Group and ABB ended nearly 1% up from their previous closing levels, while SGS and Givaudan both gained about 0.75%.

Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry, Galenica Sante and Adecco ended lower by 1.2 to 1.5%. Julius Baer, Clariant and OC Oerlikon Corp also closed weak.

Logitech, Straumann Holding, PSP Swiss Property, VAT Group, SIG Combibloc, AMS, Schindler PS and Kuehne & Nagel gained 1.6 to 2.7%.

SECO said the Swiss economy will contract in the first quarter, but recover at a rapid pace with the easing of coronavirus measures. Gross domestic product is forecast to grow 3% in 2021 and 3.3% next year. The projection for this year was left unchanged, while that for 2022 was revised up from 3.1%.

The economy is expected to shrink significantly in the first quarter of this year. However, a collapse of a similar magnitude to last spring so far seems unlikely, the SECO said.

The SECO expects consumer prices to climb 0.4% in 2021 instead of 0.1% estimated previously. Similarly, the projection for 2022 was raised to 0.4% from 0.3%, The jobless rate is seen at 3.3% this year and 3% next year.