Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended notably lower for a second straight session, as stocks reeled under sustained selling pressure on Thursday. Data showing manufacturing activity in Switzerland contracted for the thirteenth consecutive month weighed on sentiment.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that a rate cut is unlikely in March, weighed as well.

The benchmark SMI, which snapped a five-day winning streak on Wednesday, recorded a loss of 119.47 points or 1.05% today, as it settled at 11,213.91. The index touched a low of 11,194.31 in the session.

Roche Holding ended down 5.5% after forecasting a sluggish recovery in sales and earnings this year. The company posted a profit of 11.50 billion francs for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, with sales of 58.72 billion francs. Analysts expected a net income of 14.86 billion francs.

UBS Group lost about 3.3%. Holcim, Zurich Insurance Group, Swisscom and Swiss Re ended lower by 1.3 to 1.6%.

Swiss Life Holding and Kuehne & Nagel both ended lower by about 1.2%. Alcon, Logitech International and Richemont ended modestly lower.

ABB climbed about 1.7% and Novartis advanced 1.3%. Lonza Group and Sonova gained 0.68% and 0.5%, respectively.

In the Mid Price Index, Sandoz dropped about 4%. SIG Combibloc ended lower by 1.21%, while Avolta, ams OSRAM AG, Swatch Group and Flughafen Zurich all declined nearly 1%.

Straumann Holding rallied 3.81%. Lindt & Spruengli climbed 1.55%, while Julius Baer, Georg Fischer, BKW and VAT Group gained 0.6 to 1%.

In economic news, the Swiss procure.ch and Credit Suisse Manufacturing PMI was almost unchanged at 43.1 in January 2024 from 43 in the previous month. Economists had expected the reading to come in at 44.5%. missing market forecasts of 44.5.