For the second day in succession, the Swiss market experienced declines throughout the trading session. The downturn was primarily influenced by disheartening earnings reports from major U.S. technology companies, Microsoft Inc. and Meta Platforms, coupled with disappointing inflation data from the eurozone, which adversely affected investor sentiment and led to a downward trend in stock prices on Thursday.
Investors displayed a notably cautious outlook as they anticipated the release of Swiss inflation data and the retail sales report scheduled for Friday. Additionally, updates on the country's manufacturing activity for October are expected.
The primary SMI index closed with a decrease of 174.78 points, or 1.46%, landing at 11,792.92, after hitting a session low of 11,745.30.
Swisscom saw a decline of 5.05%, while Partners Group fell by 3.71%. Other notable decliners included Julius Baer, UBS Group, VAT Group, Sonova, and Roche Holding, each dropping between 2% and 2.5%.
Furthermore, prominent companies such as Alcon, Logitech International, Novartis, Swatch Group, ABB, SIG Group, Straumann Holding, Givaudan, Swiss Life Holding, Richemont, Nestle, Zurich Insurance, and Holcim fell by margins ranging from 1% to 1.9%.
Even though Avolta reported robust third-quarter results and reaffirmed its medium-term targets, its shares dipped nearly 2.5%.
In contrast, Geberit defied the prevailing trend with a notable rise of approximately 4.7%. The company reported a year-over-year increase in both third-quarter net income and net sales, reaching 150 million francs and 762 million francs, respectively, as compared to 148 million francs and 728 million francs previously.
Meanwhile, eurozone inflation increased more than anticipated in October, driven by rising food and energy prices; however, it remained within the European Central Bank's target range, strengthening the argument for a gradual easing of monetary policy.
According to Eurostat’s flash estimate, the harmonized index of consumer prices reflected an annual growth of 2%. Forecasts had projected inflation to increase to 1.9% from 1.7% in September.
Core inflation, which excludes the volatile sectors of energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco, stayed constant at 2.7% in October, slightly above the expected rate of 2.6%.
