Zurich (awp) – The Swiss stock market ended on a negative note on Friday. After a low below 11,900 points in the first minutes of trading, the SMI recovered a little and subsequently evolved around this level for a long time before rising again and finishing near the day’s high. The prospect of an upcoming rate cut by the American Federal Reserve (Fed) is fading and this is weighing on investor morale.
Brokers are also talking about profit-taking while, between May 3 and 17, the flagship SIX index advanced by more than 7% and crossed the symbolic bar of 12,000 points for the first time in two years.
In New York, Wall Street gained ground in the morning on the eve of a long weekend (Memorial Day Monday).
After Thursday’s downturn, particularly for the Dow Jones, “things seem to be looking a little better for the market, even if it’s not a rush either, before a three-day weekend” , explained, in a note, Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com.
“Yesterday was a typical example of an overheated market looking for an excuse to take profits,” recalled Quincy Krosby of LPL Financial. “And he found it with the PMI indices,” which notably showed that business costs had accelerated again in May.
Elsewhere in the world, the number of workplaces in Switzerland increased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2024. In full-time equivalents, this represents an increase of 1.4% in the number of jobs.
In France, the business climate remained stable in May, remaining just below its long-term average, with the improvement observed in services being offset by a deterioration in retail trade.
In the United Kingdom, retail sales slumped in April, falling more than expected as rainy weather reduced footfall in stores.
In Japan, inflation slowed in April for a second month in a row to 2.2% year-on-year excluding fresh products.
The SMI ended down 0.29% to 11,931.70 points, with a low of 11,857.09 and a high of 11,942.49. The SLI lost 0.18% to 1958.15 points and the SPI 0.28% to 15,936.35 points. Of the 30 star stocks, 18 fell and 12 advanced.
Holcim (+1.0%) precedes Swiss Life and Kühne+Nagel (each +0.9%) and UBS (+0.8%) on the podium.
Three analysts reacted the day after the publication of performance over the first four months of the year by Julius Bär (-0.3%). They all raised the price target and confirmed “buy”. The UBS analyst welcomed the improvement in gross margin. The robust assets under management can be attributed to better exchange conditions and the performance of the equity markets, more than offsetting the weak inflows of money. He believes that Julius Bär remains well positioned, but questions the generation of new money.
The three biggest losers of the day are Partners Group (-2.0% or -25.50 Swiss francs, excluding dividend of 39 Swiss francs), Straumann (-1.7%) and VAT Group (-1.3%) .
In the heavyweight camp, Novartis (-1.1%), Roche (bearer -1.1%, good -0.7%) and Nestlé (-0.9%) weighed on the index.
On the broader market, the Rhineland laboratory Curatis Therapeutics (-8.3%), listed since the end of April thanks to its reverse merger with Kinarus, hired Patrick Ramsauer as financial director.
The two animal insurance companies Epona and Animalia, subsidiaries of the Vaudoise Assurances group (-0.2%), are changing heads. The transition at the head of the two entities will take place in the coming months.
The Vaud glass packaging manufacturer Vetropack (+0.3%) begins with the closure of the Saint-Prex factory, announced in mid-May and which concerns 182 employees. The first dismissal letters will be sent in the coming days. The staff went on strike, demanding responses from management to their social demands.
Stadler Rail (-3.7% or -1.05 francs) and Valiant (-6.9% or -7.60 Swiss francs) were treated excluding dividends of 0.90 and 5.50 Swiss francs respectively. The Swiss Federal Railways (CFF) have signed a contract option with Stadler for the manufacture and delivery of nearly 33 new Flirt Evo type multiple units.
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