The Swiss Stock Exchange continued the positive momentum of the first two sessions of the year on Tuesday and ended on a clearly positive note. The SMI returned to the symbolic bar of 11,800 points, ending at its highest of the day.
On Wall Street, the indices moved in scattered order in the morning after a slightly positive opening. Investors lacked conviction due to the uncertainties surrounding Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“There is not much conviction after the rebound at the opening the day before faded as the day progressed,” Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com observed in a note.
“Investors are waiting for the next bullish catalyst,” Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments commented to AFP.
In addition, “the market is holding its breath and waiting to discover” the “measures that will really be” put in place by Donald Trump after his inauguration on January 20, according to the analyst.
On the macroeconomic front, in France, inflation remained stable in December, at 1.3% over one year, while in the euro zone, inflation increased by 0.2 points last month, to 2.4 % over one year, continuing its rebound that began in October.
In Switzerland, inflation has stalled in 2024, despite increases in rents and electricity prices. It stands at 1.1% on an annual average.
“For 2025, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) anticipates inflation at 0.3%, like the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), while the KOF economic institute anticipates 0.5%. These forecasts are very realistic. We already anticipate 0.4% inflation for this year. This new inflation figure is therefore in line with the expectations of the SNB,” commented Arthur Jurus, investment director of Oddo BHF Switzerland.
The SMI finished up 1.19% at 11,830.77, the highest of the day and after a low of 11,665.95 in the opening phase. The SLI gained 1.01% to 1956.28 points and the SPI 1.07% to 15,784.16 points. Of the 30 star stocks, 23 rose and 7 fell.
The good Schindler (-1.2%) finished bottom, behind Holcim (-0.5%), Kühne+Nagel, Sika and Geberit (all -0.4%).
-Barclays has lowered the recommendation of the construction chemist and glue producer to “underweight”, from “overweight” previously. The price target was reduced to 215 francs, from 330 francs, given that the stock is unlikely to outperform over a 12-month period, according to analysts.
The specialist in sanitary installations did not benefit from an increase in the price target to 500 from 450 francs by the same Barclays which however confirmed “underweight”, given that the recovery in the residential real estate market is taking time and is still uncertain.
Logitech and Roche (each +2.7%) took first place on the podium, ahead of Lonza (+3.3%) and Swiss Re (+1.7%).
Novartis (+1.6%) and Nestlé (+1.2%) also supported the index well.
Wealth manager Julius Bär (+1.2%) attracted attention after confirming the sale of its activities in Brazil in an effort to optimize its capital ratio. Julius Baer Brasil Gestão de Patrimônio e Consultoria de Valores Mobiliários will be sold to Banco BTG Pactual for 615 million reais, or 91 million francs. The group is undertaking a major strategic reorganization, as the arrival of a new general director at its head approaches.
On the broader market, Michel Frei joins the general management of Basel Cantonal Bank (BKB, unchanged) as head of the Commercial Customer Distribution sector.
Distribution facilitator DKSH (+0.7%) has finalized the acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, of CLMO, based in Malaysia and Vietnam. The Zurich group is thus expanding its activities in semiconductors.
The Aargau specialty chemist Dottikon ES (-0.9%) will replace the company responsible for the construction and engineering of its new multipurpose production plant for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). He terminated the contract with the Swiss engineering company concerned, whose name he withheld.
The bone substitute designer Kuros (+20.0%) has signed an agreement with the American medical device specialist Medtronic for the distribution of its Magnetos bone graft material. Financial details of the partnership are not disclosed. (AWP)
