Swiss Stocks Fall As Oil's Rise Triggers Inflation Worries
(RTTNews) - Swiss stocks ended notably lower on Thursday after languishing in negative territory throughout the day's trading session, as higher oil prices and bond yields raised inflation and interest rate concerns.
Oil prices moved up sharply amid rising concerns over an escalation in U.S.-Iran conflict. According to reports, the White House asked Pentagon to develop options to strike Iran before the midterm elections, but no final decision has been made. Meanwhile, oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico have begun curbing production and evacuating personnel from offshore facilities.
Hawkish comments from few top central bank officials and persisting concerns about France's fiscal outlook weighed on investor sentiment.
Brent crude front-month futures jumped to $105.92 a barrel, gaining over 5%.
The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 13,617.92 a little past noon, recovered to 13,746.19 around late afternoon but retreated subsequently and eventually finished with a loss of 171.42 points or 1.24% at 13,637.00.
Straumann Holding shed about 3.7%. Richemont and Lonza Group both ended lower by about 2.4%. Roche, Sandoz Group, Novartis and Sika dropped 1.7%-2%.
ABB, Holcim, Swiss Life Holding, UBS Group, Amrize, VAT Group, Schindler Ps, Logitech International, Swiss Re, Alcon and Helvetia Baloise Holding ended down 0.8%-1.4%. Geberit drifted down by about 0.7%.
Lindt & Spruengli climbed 2.3%. Sonova moved up 1.2%, while Nestle, Julius Baer and Kuehne + Nagel posted modest gains.
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