The Swiss stock market began the last session in a gloomy mood. Investors were clearly digesting the stock market feast opened by the long-awaited cut from the Fed. They were conserving their strength in anticipation of new US macroeconomic data next week as well as the monetary policy announcement by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) next Thursday.
“Jerome Powell and the committee have shown courage,” said Frank Sohlleder of ActivTrades, who emphasized strengthening the US economy. This was “to avoid the Federal Reserve being criticized for hesitating to act and that in the end, the soft landing turns into a contraction of the economy.”
The expert warns, however, of the risks of a bubble around stock market values. While the situation in the Middle East is worsening, it is leaving investors “totally indifferent”.
In France, the business climate continued to recover in September, moving closer to its long-term average, thanks in particular to the improvement in the climate in retail and wholesale trade.
In Japan, the rise in consumer prices accelerated slightly in August (+2.8% over one year excluding fresh products), which prompted the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to announce shortly afterwards that it would maintain its key rate at 0.25%, in line with expectations.
At around 09:10, the SMI calculated by Julius Bär fell by 0.24% to 12,028.35 points, after closing up 0.63% at 12,058.30 points on Thursday. The SLI shed 0.48% to 1,957.99 points and the SPI lost 0.22% to 16,033.22 points. Of the thirty leading stocks, only eight were trading in the green and 22 in the red.
On the provisional podium were Givaudan (+0.7%), Sonova and Zurich Insurance (+0.3% each).
Among the heavyweights, the action and the good Roche were swimming (+0.1% each), while Novartis lost 0.1% and Nestlé 0.4%.
VAT Group down
At the bottom of the table, VAT Group sank by 3.3%, the victim of a sell recommendation made by Morgan Stanley. The vacuum valve producer allowed the Swatch Group (-3.2%) to avoid the red lantern. Goldman Sachs lowered the price target of the Bienne watchmaker to 175 francs, against 190 francs but maintained the recommendation at “neutral” while Jefferies lowered to “underperform”, against “hold”. The current weakness of the luxury sector, to which Nick Hayek’s group is not immune, is to blame, especially since the latter is more oriented towards the entry and mid-range, which suffer more.
Competitor Richemont did barely better (-2.4%), also paying the price of analysts’ opinions. Jefferies and Goldman Sachs lowered their price target in view of the weakening of the luxury sector. The recommendation for the owner of Cartier remained fixed at “buy” in both cases.
Sika fell 1.6%, following a downgrade to “underperform” (neutral) from Exane BP. The analyst in charge of the stock pointed to the poor health of the automotive sector and headwinds in terms of currencies.
Holcim fell 1.4%, also targeted by a cut from Exane BNP to “neutral” (outperform) and a price target lowered by 4% to 89.50 francs. The upside potential for the share price of the building materials giant now seems limited.
Kühne + Nagel (-1%) has opened the largest logistics centre in its history in Mantua, northern Italy, for German equipment manufacturer Adidas. The group spent 350 million euros.
In the broader market, Huber + Suhner advanced 0.6% after renewing its roadmap for 2024 ahead of its investor day in Herisau. The group also found a new CFO.
Vontobel (-0.7%) announced Thursday after the close of trading that it is taking over the clients of IHAG Privatbank, which will cease its management activities after the transaction. (AWP)
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