Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower

The Switzerland market closed notably lower on Friday on weak global cues as concerns about global economic growth and geopolitical tensions rendered the mood a bit bearish.

The benchmark SMI, which was briefly up in positive territory at the start, retreated soon and spent the rest of the day’s session in the red, and settled at 11,797.72 with a loss of 119.28 points. The index touched a low of 11,775.75 in the session.

Swatch Group tumbled 7.75%. Richemont closed down 6.6% after posting a 20% drop in net profit to 1.73 billion euros in the first half of the year, from 2.16 billion euros a year ago.

Adecco ended down 2.8% and Sika closed down 2.56%, while Straumann Holding, UBS Group and Logitech International lost 1.9 to 2.2%.

Swiss Re, Roche Holding, Zurich Insurance, Swisscom, Julius Baer and Nestle closed lower by 0.6 to 1.1%.

Lindt & Spruengli closed up by about 1.1%. SGS and Sonova, both closed higher by nearly 1%. Sandoz Group gained 0.73%. Alcon, VAT Group and Lonza Group posted modest gains.

In economic news, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Switzerland’s consumer confidence index improved to -37 in October 2024, up from -52.5 a year earlier, though it missed market expectations of -33. The economic expectations index rose to -30.1 from -51.9 in October 2023, indicating a less negative view on future economic conditions.