The Swiss stock market opened lower on Monday, feverishly awaiting monetary policy announcements from the American Federal Reserve (Fed) in two days. In addition to some company information, investors will have a fair amount of macroeconomic data to analyze.
Friday evening, the New York Stock Exchange finished mixed, struggling to find momentum before the Fed meeting, but maintaining enthusiasm for the semiconductor sector.
Following in the footsteps of the ECB and the SNB, the American central bank should announce Wednesday evening (Swiss time), according to the majority of observers, a further reduction in key rates of a quarter of a percentage point.
On the macroeconomic front, retail sales growth in China slowed in November, a sign of continued sluggish consumption despite some semblance of a recovery the previous month. In Switzerland, the consensus of economists from the KOF institute expects growth of 1.4% this year and inflation of 1.1%. In 2025, GDP should slow to +1.3% and consumer prices to 0.6%.
Investors will also be watching the December flash composite PMI index in the eurozone and the United States. “If the figures were to be better than expected and surprise the markets, this would have a beneficial effect on European stock markets this Monday,” said Frank Sohlleder, analyst at ActivTrades.
Around 9:28 a.m., the flagship SMI index dropped 0.14% to 11,677.78 points, after closing Friday down 0.18%. The SLI fell by 0.07% to 1936.84 points and the SI lost 0.16% to 15,556.07 points.
The majority of star stocks were down, with the biggest declines recorded by Swatch Group (-0.7%), Nestlé (-0.7%) and SIG Group (-0.3%). The Bienne watchmaker was probably suffering from the slowdown in retail sales in China in November.
SGS (-0.4%) acquired, for an undisclosed amount, the Friborg start-up CertX and its ten employees.
Holcim (-0.4%) ended its share buyback program initiated in mid-March, collecting 12.2 million of its own shares, or 2.1% of the share capital, for 1 billion francs .
Conversely, Lonza (+1.2%), Sandoz Group (+1.1%) and UBS Group (+0.4%) were sought after by investors. The supplier to the pharmaceutical industry benefited from an increase in its purchase recommendation by Stifel.
In the broader market, Wisekey (+35.3%) was taking off. The launch of the satellite from Wisesat.space, a subsidiary of the Geneva-based cybersecurity specialist, is scheduled for January 14.
Basilea (+8.4%) took off. The pharmaceutical laboratory has concluded an agreement with the American Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics for the marketing of the antibiotic Zevtera in the United States. Basel will receive an initial payment of $4 million, tiered royalties on net sales of between 15 and 25 percent and sales milestone payments of up to $223 million.
Relief Therapeutics (+8.0%) was also sought after, after a study highlighting the effectiveness of the Golike product.
Galderma (+3.2%) was popular among investors, driven by an increase in the buy recommendation issued by UBS analysts. The group also obtained approval of Nemluvio (nemolizumab) from the United States Medicines Agency (FDA).
Polypeptide (+2.0%) announced the commissioning of its new solid peptide synthesis line in Braine l’Alleud, south of Brussels.
Siegfried (-4.1%) on the other hand fell significantly, penalized by a lowering of recommendation for sale from Stifel. (AWP)
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