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Swiss stock market closes the week in the red

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The Swiss stock market: not immune to fluctuations in the US and elsewhere. Keystone-SDA

The Swiss Market Index (SMI) closed the week down 4.2%. After the US stock exchange was closed on Monday for a public holiday, the SMI fell every day.

The week was marked by concerns about the US economy, which sent markets around the world into a tailspin which even the rather defensive Swiss stock exchange was unable to escape.

After a gloomy week, the SMI fell by a further 1.02% to 11,908 points on Friday.

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The biggest weekly losses among SMI stocks were recorded by Zug-based asset manager Partners Group and the luxury goods group Richemont, each of which lost almost 11%. At Partners Group, disappointing half-year figures were largely responsible, while Richemont shares suffered from the slowing economy and fears that the weakness in demand might not just be temporary.

Competitor Swatch also lost almost 8%.

The US labour market report on Friday, which was eagerly awaited by investors, also only provided a short-term recovery. Economists spoke of more or less solid data indicating a turnaround in interest rates in the US which investors had been eagerly awaiting.

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The report had not confirmed fears that a recession was imminent in the US, said one trader. The data also pointed to a “soft landing” scenario, whereby the US Federal Reserve is likely to initiate a turnaround in interest rates in just under two weeks with a cut of 25 basis points. A cut of 50 points is not yet off the table either.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dos

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