Like other European markets, the Swiss stock market continued its upward trend on Monday morning, somewhat reassured by the results of the legislative elections in France. The first round of voting, as expected, brought out the far-right National Rally (RN) party in the lead, but the latter has not yet obtained an absolute majority in the Chamber, which seemed to reassure the participants.
The RN came out on top with more than 33% of the vote, while the left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front reached almost 28% and the presidential camp around 21%.
“If the National Rally wins the prime ministership, for which Jordan Bardella has been tipped, it will be able to define a large part of the national agenda,” analyzed investment specialist John Plassard of Mirabaud Banque in a commentary. The result of the first round nevertheless suggests that the RN “may not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly (…) after the second round. For the markets, this is the least worst scenario,” he stressed.
But for Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya, “there is a significant risk that Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella will win the parliamentary majority by the end of the week.”
UBS experts believe that due to the many three-way races in the second round, none of the three parties in the running is likely to win an absolute majority. “This could lead to a period of political instability,” they warned.
This first round of elections in France will in any case continue to shake up the markets, added Frank Sohlleder, an analyst at Activtrades. Political impulses will dictate the evolution of the markets in the coming days, with the legislative elections in the United Kingdom on Thursday. The polls predict a large victory for the Labour Party after 14 years of conservative rule.
UBS in the lead
Around 10:40 a.m. on the Swiss Stock Exchange, the flagship SMI index rose 0.34% to 12,032.80 points, after opening up 0.94%. The SLI gained 0.31% to 1949.82 points and the SPI gained 0.38% to 15,979.45 points.
A majority of leading stocks remained anchored in the green, with the strongest increase still being recorded by UBS (+2.3%), followed by Julius Baer (+2.0%) and SIG Group (+1.5%).
Asset manager Partners Group (+0.5%) announced that it has taken a majority stake in FairJourney Biologics.
The heavyweights of the rating went in opposite directions, Novartis (-0.4%) falling, while Roche (good +0.3%, buoyant +0.6%) and Nestlé (+0.5%) rose .
Sandoz (-0.1%) reversed the positive trend that had prevailed until then. The Basel-based giant in substitution drugs obtained approval from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a biosimilar version of ustekinumab, under the brand name Pyschiva.
On the broader market, Idorsia (+9.4%) picked up the pace. The Rhine laboratory has obtained approval in the European Union for its new treatment Jeraygo (aprocitentan) against resistant hypertension, in combination with at least three other medicinal products.
Clariant (+2.7%) on the other hand slowed down a little, but was still supported by a purchase recommendation issued by Goldman Sachs which also raised the price target.
Ypsomed (+2.0%) also progressed significantly, despite a non-dividend treatment of 2 francs.
Accelleron (+1.8%) was still sought after. Its subsidiary OMT has acquired the Italian manufacturer of fuel injection components OMC2, to meet growing demand, particularly in the marine industry. The amount of the acquisition was not disclosed. (awp)
