The Swiss stock market started 2025 on the rise, little affected by the pessimism of Wall Street. The news was still sparse on Friday, coming out of the end-of-year holidays and awaiting the start of the results season next week.
After an opening in the green, injecting a hint of optimism into the European markets, all of the main American indices ended in negative territory. The Dow Jones lost 0.36%, the Nasdaq index 0.16% and the broader S&P 500 index 0.22%, at the end of a session where trading remained limited. These losses are also partly due to the publication of disappointing results by the automobile manufacturer Tesla, whose stock subsequently fell by more than 6%. The main places of the old continent, for their part, resisted.
These contrasting trends on the markets reflect uncertainties, particularly regarding the trade policy that Washington will pursue. “The imminent arrival of Donald Trump in power is putting investors’ resolve to the test,” writes Jochen Stanzl at CMC Markets. Acting cautiously, “they are preparing for a possible twist when the new president takes office,” adds his colleague from Activ Trades, Frank Sohlleder.
On Friday, no significant news was expected from the business side. On the macroeconomic and economic front, the American ISM manufacturing activity index for the month of December was to be published in the afternoon, as well as data on the labor market in Germany for the last two months. In Switzerland, the PMI purchasing managers’ index for the industrial sector contracted slightly in December.
Around 9:15 a.m., the Swiss Market Index (SMI) climbed 0.44% to 11,652.75 points. The Swiss Leader Index (SLI) increased by 0.52% to 1927.02 points and the expanded Swiss Performance Index (SPI) by 0.49% to 15,548.43 points. Of the thirty main valuations, only five were trending downward, while Geberit remained in balance.
UBS took the lead in the index (+2.2%) and Exane BNP raised its recommendation and its price target, believing that the horizon is clearing for the big bank. Julius Bär (+1.6%) and SIG Group (+1.1%) completed the podium.
Partners Group (+0.9%) seemed to benefit from an increase in its price target by Citigroup.
Also on the rise, Swisscom (+0.4%). The blue telecommunications giant announced the day before that it had finalized the acquisition of Vodafone Italia on December 31, a little faster than expected. This operation, costed at 8 billion euros, places the group in second place among telecommunications service providers in Italy, behind TIM (Telecom Italia).
The heavyweights moved in a dispersed order, with Roche increasing by 0.8%, Novartis by 0.3%, while Nestlé weighed on the index (-0.2%).
At the other end of the table were Swatch Group (-0.9%), which was also in the bottom position, and Richemont (-0.6%), still affected by the lack of economic rebound in China. Beijing said on Friday it was continuing its “economic opening” but gave no indication of its reaction to the new American customs duties, nor outlined concrete measures to support the economy.
Swiss
