Switzerland's leading stocks experienced a downturn this Tuesday as investors responded to recent earnings reports and anticipated the Federal Reserve's upcoming announcement regarding monetary policy.
The SMI benchmark index briefly showed positive signs in the early trading hours, but ultimately closed the day's trading session at a low point of 11,260.91, a decrease of 71.45 points or 0.63%.
Companies such as Straumann Holding and UBS Group were hit hard, with decreases of 11.4% and 3.3%, respectively. Other notable firms like SIG Group, Lonza Group, and Holcim ended the day with losses ranging from 2.2% to 2.75%. Swatch Group, SGS, Richemont, Sonova, Geberit, and Alcon also experienced losses between 1% to 1.7%.
However, not all companies faced losses. Lindt Spruengli saw a significant increase of 4.12%, and Sandoz also experienced growth of 1.6%. Other companies such as Schindler Ps, Novartis, Givaudan, and Nestle showed minor improvements. Logitech, specifically, surged 7.8% following their better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Other notable losses included Meyer Burger Tech at 14.8% and Baloise Holding, which ended 4.8% lower. Flughafen Zurich, Swatch Group, and PSP Swiss Property all ended significantly lower.
In a positive note, Barry Callebaut surged upwards by more than 7%, and both Clariant and Temenos Group gained 2.7% and 1.6% respectively.
On the economic side, Switzerland's KOF economic barometer, a leading indicator of the Swiss economy, saw a slight increase to 101.8 in April 2024, up from a revised 100.4 in March. However, this was below the anticipated forecast of 102.1.
