The Swiss stock market changed sides on Thursday, propelled by its heavyweight Nestlé which reversed the trend. Investors seemed reassured after management’s statements. Other results, notably those from ABB and Schindler, liven up the session. All eyes are on the imminent monetary policy decision of the European Central Bank (ECB), from which a rate cut is expected.
Gold marked an all-time high in the morning, “driven by the fall in yields on ten-year US treasury bonds, the prospect of central bank interest rate cuts as well as geopolitical risks,” explains Ricardo Evangelista, analyst at Activtrades.
For its part, oil continues its downward trend, “exacerbated by growing skepticism that the economic stimuli recently announced by China will be sufficient to instill new growth in the world’s largest importer,” he explained.
In Switzerland, foreign trade fell back in September, with watch exports even suffering a drop of 12.4% year-on-year to 2.05 billion francs.
At 11:05 a.m., the SMI rose 0.44% to 12,246.11 points, the SLI rose 0.32% to 1,998.8 points and the SPI gained 0.36% to 16,283.54 points. Of the thirty star values, winners and losers were balanced.
From last in the ranking, Nestlé (+2.2%) now climbed onto the second step of the podium after management’s declarations. The food giant saw its revenues decline over nine months and adjusted downwards its objectives for the entire financial year. From January to September, the multinational’s turnover fell by 2.4% year-on-year to 67.1 billion francs. Organic growth was 2%, while real internal growth (RIG) reached 0.5%, lower than analysts’ projections.
Schindler was still in the lead (+3.4%). The manufacturer of elevators and escalators significantly expanded its margins over the first nine months of the year, despite falling turnover. The latter is weighed down by exchange rate effects, without which it would show honorable growth.
ABB (+1.7%) completed the podium. The industrial conglomerate continued on its growth path in the third quarter, still benefiting from good demand for the electrification business. Turnover reached 8.15 billion, an increase of 2.3% driven both by volumes and price adjustments. Net profit stood at $947 million, up 7.4%.
Heavyweights Novartis (-0.5%) and Roche (-0.3%) were in the red.
VAT (-1.5%) was trailing at the back of the pack. The vacuum pump equipment manufacturer managed to stabilize its turnover in the third quarter at 209.4 million (-0.2%), while seeing order intake significantly increase. The results missed analysts’ expectations.
Givaudan (-1.1%) suffered the repercussions of a lowering of recommendation by Citigroup analysts.
On the broader market, Ypsomed (+1.1%) announced the inauguration of a production site in Germany and its desire to expand its capacities. (AWP)
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