Swiss stock market slightly firmer after Biden withdrawal
Published: Monday, Jul 22nd 2024, 10:10
Zurück zu Live Feed
The Swiss stock market trended slightly firmer on Monday. Traders speak of a countermovement after the weak previous week, in which the Swiss Market Index (SMI) lost 1.6 percent.
The focus on the financial markets is on US politics. However, President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race for the presidential election is not causing any major waves on either the stock market or the currency market. Biden announced on Sunday that he would be withdrawing and proposed his Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
Biden's withdrawal so close to the election is a dramatic turnaround and will cause further chaos in an already historic US election year, according to the market. This could well lead to even greater volatility on the markets, said one trader.
"The new situation in the presidential election campaign is also the top topic on the stock market today," wrote market expert Thomas Altmann from asset manager QC Partners. The question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris could beat Donald Trump is likely to be the main driver. She is the most promising replacement candidate.
Trump election victory less likely
According to market estimates, the likelihood of a Trump victory has decreased following Biden's departure. The Democrats have the momentum on their side with Harris and could turn the tables on a 59-year-old frontrunner and question Donald Trump's mental fitness due to his advanced age, according to one commentary.
Meanwhile, the local stock market is facing an extremely busy week of company reports from (tomorrow) Tuesday. After Belimo at the start of the week, the interim reports of SMI companies Givaudan and Kühne+Nagel as well as a number of other companies will follow on Tuesday. The reporting week will reach its climax on Thursday, when blue chips such as Nestlé, Roche and Lonza will be joined by more than a dozen other listed companies in presenting their figures.
The SMI stock market barometer was trading 0.5 percent higher at 12,231 points at around 9.45 am. The Swiss franc has gained slightly against both the dollar and the euro this morning. The USD/CHF currency pair is currently trading at 0.8876, up from 0.8892 on Friday evening. For EUR/CHF, this translates into 0.9665 after 0.9673 francs before the weekend.
On Monday morning, the euro continued to trend just below 1.09 dollars against the dollar, almost at the same level as on Friday evening.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic