The Swiss Stock Exchange opened in the red on Wednesday after finishing in disarray the day before. Investors were looking towards the trade balance figures in the euro zone and the Minutes of the American Federal Reserve (Fed).
John Plassard, of Mirabaud Banque, predicted that European indices would open lower due to numerous uncertainties, among them “geopolitical tensions, doubts about the next rate cuts, the economic strength of China or even who will be at home White in less than a month.
On Tuesday, the eagerly awaited meetings for investors were the announcement of the trade balance figures in the euro zone and the Fed Minutes in the United States. According to John Plassard, investors seemed to have digested the fact that the Fed will not lower its rates by 50 basis points at its next meeting. “The mood in the interest rate markets could be marked by caution, especially as other very important data on consumer prices in the United States are due to be published on Thursday,” noted for their part the economists of the Helaba bank.
Germany, the world’s third-largest economy, was due to publish foreign trade figures for August as well as its growth estimates for 2024.
In China, investors did not seem to have been daunted by the “weak” performance of Chinese indices after Golden Week, noted John Plassard. The country is due to publish September inflation and producer price figures on Sunday. The World Bank forecasts that Chinese growth will continue to slow in 2025, despite a temporary boost from recent stimulus measures. The growth rate is expected to fall to 4.3% next year, compared to 4.8% estimated for 2024, “putting even more pressure on the region’s economies, such as Indonesia and South Korea.” , according to the expert.
“The Chinese recovery cannot end on a disappointing note, there should be more: more recovery measures, but also more uncertainty as to the capacity of these measures to reverse the trend,” said Ipek. Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote.
The stars are struggling
At 9:05 a.m. on the Swiss Stock Exchange, the flagship SMI index lost 0.06% to 12,004.01 points, after closing on Tuesday with a very slight increase of 0.02% to 12,010.99 points. The SLI dropped 0.06% to 1967.41 points and the SPI fell 0.01% to 16,029.67 points.
A small majority of star stocks opened in the red. At the top of the table were Lonza (+1.5%), after Goldman Sachs again gave the “buy” recommendation, Sandoz (+1.1%) and Novartis (+0.7).
In the absence of news from blue chip companies, the biggest declines were recorded by Kuehne+Nagel (-0.8%), Nestlé (-0.6), whose target JPMorgan lowered to share price and UBS (-0.5%).
Among the remaining heavyweights, Roche gained 0.09%.
In the broader market, HOCN (-5.8%), Evolva (-4.8%) and Kudelski (-2.9%) posted the largest declines. Aevis lost 0.7%, while its subsidiary Swiss Medical Network (SMN) bought the company PDS Medical which operates ten medical practices in Ticino under the Centromedico brand.
In the strongest increases, we found Relief Therapeutics (+18.2%), Newron Pharma (+2.29%) and Temenos (2.25%). (AWP)
