Swiss stock market holds up amid global turbulence
After a week marked by declines on Wall Street and stalling Asian markets, the Swiss stock market closed on Friday relatively unscathed, with the index of blue chip stocks dropping 0.93% to 8682.00 points.
Over the course of the week, the Swiss Market Index (SMI) of leading Swiss stocks fell by 3.1%. It had hit a historic high of 9616.38 points on January 24. Indices fell earlier in the day on Friday, picking up again as Wall Street opened on an upswing and then falling once more as gains fell in New York.
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The latest turbulence has been sparked by US investors’ fears of an interest rate hike, causing Wall Street to tumble, followed by Asian and European markets.
Analyst Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services told Swiss news agency ATS-SDA that it “is impossible to say whether things will calm down or not”.
The strong fluctuations observed on the marketplace, such as the sudden surge in indices at the close of business on Monday and Thursday are, according to him, “evidence that many of the movements are not guided by investment decisions based on fundamentals, but rather by technical adjustments of positions by funds that have been hyperactive since the beginning of the week.”
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