2023-11-09 17:16:06
Zurich (awp) – The Swiss stock market ended on a positive note once more on Thursday. After a little hesitation and a brief shift to red in the opening phase, the SMI settled into green, approaching within ten points of 10,700 at its highest of the day, without however managing to cross this level and giving up part of its gains at the end of the session.
In New York, Wall Street moved in disorganized order in the morning, following an opening that was still just positive. Investors are awaiting a speech from the President of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) Jerome Powell. “The market will be listening closely to see if Mr. Powell will say anything surprising regarding the outlook for monetary policy,” commented Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
Several Fed officials have spoken in recent days, leaving, for some, the door open to a further increase in interest rates if inflation persists, a scenario that the market is ruling out for the moment. Indeed, more than 90% of investors believe that rates will remain as they are at the December monetary meeting, according to CME calculations on futures products.
The SMI ended up 0.47% at 10,644.99 points, with a high of 10,691.05 and a low of 10,585.08 points. The SLI gained 0.70% to 1678.21 points and the SPI 0.55% to 13,971.68 points. Of the 30 star stocks, 22 rose, seven fell and the carrier Roche finished in balance.
The carrier Swatch (-1.8%) finished in last position, behind Novartis (-0.7%), Sandoz and Zurich Insurance (-0.4% each).
The Zurich insurer reported rising premiums over the first nine months of the year. Management has also confirmed its objectives for 2025 and plans to remunerate its shareholders more with a share buyback program which must still be validated in February.
Also in the red, UBS (-0.3%) made a return to the AT1 bond market with a highly demanded placement despite the shock in March in the wake of the Credit Suisse (CS) bailout. The two-tranche issue represented a volume of $3.5 billion.
The Roche dividend certificate (-0.02%) narrowly finished in the red, while Nestlé (+0.9%) supported the index.
Roche has obtained priority status from the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) for its Elecsys Neurofilament Light Chain immunological test. The device can detect disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Novartis announced that two pivotal phase III studies of its remibrutinib treatment for urticaria showed a “clinically relevant and statistically significant” reduction in the disease. The final conclusions as well as the submission of applications for approval are expected next year.
VAT Group (+3.8%) precedes ABB (+3.7%) and Partners Group (+2.2%) on the podium of the day.
The Zurich electrotechnical group visibly benefited from laudatory comments from Goldman Sachs, whose expert was won over by the optimism displayed by managing director (CEO) Björn Rosengren.
On the eve of the publication of its half-year results, Richemont (+0.7%) was favored by the stock market. Analysts expect revenues of 10.4 billion euros and a net profit of 2.2 billion. In an environment marked by increases in interest rates and an economic slowdown in the United States and Europe, the luxury group should have recorded a more modest increase in turnover than in previous months.
On the broader market, Comet (+12.4%) has revised its medium-term objectives upwards, while pushing them back to 2027. Turnover is expected between 800 and 900 million Swiss francs, while the gross operating margin (Ebitda) is expected to be between 25 and 30%.
Lastminute.com (+3.5%) returned to profit in the third quarter, posting a net profit of 10.1 million euros between July and the end of September, compared to a loss of 4.1 million a year earlier. The Ticino travel offer aggregator anticipates improved profitability over the whole year.
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