Swiss Market Ends Modestly Lower After Choppy Session
(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market's benchmark index SMI ended modestly lower on Thursday after a choppy session, as investors stayed a bit wary of building up positions.
Weakness in U.S. and European markets amid a sell-off in the technology sector due to concerns about AI-related investments weighed on Swiss stocks.
The SMI, which advanced to a new record high of 15,092.56 around mid-morning, ended the session with a loss of 55.12 points or 0.37% at 14,967.73, about 20 points off the day's low of 14,947.41.
Julius Baer ended down 4.7%. ABB drifted lower by 4.2%, while VAT Group, UBS Group and Logitech International lost more than 3%.
Amrize ended down 2.4%. Straumann Holding and Partners Group both ended down by about 1.4%. Roche, Alcon and Richemont also closed weak.
Swisscom climbed 3.3%. Swiss Re ended up by 2%. The insurer posted nine-month 2026 net income of $4.2 billion, up 3% year over year, and reaffirmed its $4.5 billion full-year target. Q3 profit fell to $1.336 billion from $1.428 billion. Net income attributable to shareholders decreased to $1.336 billion or $4.60 per share from $1.428 billion or $4.53 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Sandoz Group, Lonza Group, Nestle and Sika gained 1.25%-2%. Zurich Insurance, Geberit, Sonova, Givaudan, Holcim, Swiss Life Holding, Schindler Ps and Kuehne + Nagel advanced 0.5%-1%.
On the economic front, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Switzerland's unemployment rate held steady for the third straight month in October.
The unadjusted unemployment rate came in at 3% in October, the same as in the previous three months. In the corresponding month last year, the jobless rate was 2.9%. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate also remained stable at 3.1%.
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