Zurich (awp) The Swiss stock market continued in negative territory on Wednesday, after opening lower. Market observers were anxiously awaiting import/export prices in the United States.
This drop follows the publication of “very disappointing results from ASML and LVMH”, according to analyst John Plassard of Mirabaud Banque.
On Tuesday, the action of the European equipment manufacturer for the semiconductor industry ASML fell 16%, its biggest decline in 26 years, following in particular a significant lack of orders in the third quarter. LVMH’s sales in fashion and leather goods also slowed in the third quarter of 2024.
Despite China’s recovery measures, “LVMH’s results suggest that manufacturers of luxury items will have to wait longer before uncorking the champagne”, estimates expert Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote.
“Volatility could also be in order on the eve of the ECB meeting,” notes Mr. Plassard, while the European Central Bank is expected to announce a further cut in its interest rates on Thursday, according to economists. This additional drop in interest rates, combined with relaxed mortgage loan conditions, should revive companies’ “appetite for investment”, predict analysts at the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB).
In the United Kingdom, British inflation reached its lowest level in three years in September, at 1.7%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Central Bank of England (BoE) is expected to lower interest rates again in November, according to analysts at Helaba bank.
In the United States, the markets also ended Tuesday in the red. As “no significant fundamental impulse could be detected yesterday, market participants are currently expecting technical trading”, says expert Frank Sohlleder at ActivTrades.
At 11:00 a.m. on the Swiss Stock Exchange, the flagship SMI index dropped 0.33% to 12,178.43 points, after opening down 0.33% to 12,177.31 points. The SLI fell by 0.40% to 1988.41 points and the SPI by 0.39% to 16206.71 points.
Twenty-four of the thirty star stocks lost ground. Julius Bär and Lindt were standing still, while four were gaining height.
The strongest declines were recorded by the Swatch group (-2.5%), down due to concerns about the Chinese economy, VAT (-1.8%) which is due to unveil its quarterly figures on Thursday and is suffering from the warning on results from the giant ASML, and Logitech (-1.7%).
The provisional podium was made up of Schindler (+0.5%), Sandoz (+0.5) and Kuehne + Nagel (+0.2%).
On the broader market, the holding company Ci Com plunged 35.6% when trading in its shares resumed, after four and a half months of suspension. The same goes for Tecan, which fell 11.2% after the laboratory equipment manufacturer announced that it had abandoned all hope of maintaining its turnover at last year’s level in 2024.
The manufacturer of cutting machines and sheet metal presses Bystronic fell by 0.6% while these new orders over nine months are still behind by a good quarter at 466.7 million Swiss francs. With a turnover of 488.4 million, the shortfall amounts to 28.3%.
The automotive subcontractor Autoneum gained 2.6% after presenting its new growth strategy on Wednesday during a day for investors in the Czech Republic. At the same time, the Winterthur company revised its medium-term goals.
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