Swiss stock market suffers heavy losses
Published: Friday, Aug 2nd 2024, 10:40
Updated At: Saturday, Aug 3rd 2024, 01:59
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The Swiss stock market is trending significantly lower in early trading on Friday. This was due to negative cues from the USA and Asia.
The previous day, when the Swiss stock exchange was closed for the national holiday, many trading venues abroad saw sharp falls in share prices. The initially optimistic mood in the USA suddenly gave way to recession worries following weak economic figures. There are fears that the US Federal Reserve may have waited too long to turn interest rates around. In addition, not all US company results have been convincing recently.
In addition, there are increasing tensions in the Middle East, where an escalation of the conflict is feared. This is causing oil prices to rise, making investors even more cautious. The focus is now on the US labor market report for July, which will be published at 2.30 pm (CEST). The latest data showed that unemployment figures have reached an almost one-year high and that manufacturing activity has fallen more sharply than it last did eight months ago.
At 9.48 a.m., the leading SMI index was down 2.34 percent at 12,029 points. Following yesterday's holiday-related trading break, the Swiss stock market thus posted higher losses than the other major European stock exchanges, which lost between 1.2 and 0.4 percent.
Tech stocks deep red
Shares in technology companies in particular came under massive pressure. Negative guidance from the US was to blame, where technology giants presented disappointing results, which led to large-scale profit-taking, according to traders.
Chip manufacturer Intel and mail order company Amazon disappointed investors with their post-market reports. The fact that Apple's figures exceeded investors' expectations did little to help.
As a result, the shares of tech companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange such as ABB, Logitech, VAT, AMS Osram, Inficon and Comet fell by between just under five and around eight percent. Most of these shares have risen at an above-average rate in recent months. As a result, there is now massive profit-taking, according to the market.
Shares in the major bank UBS (-5.0 percent) and other financial stocks such as insurers Swiss Re (-4.0 percent), Swiss Life (-3.7 percent) and Zurich (-3.2 percent) as well as the growth stock Straumann (-4.1 percent) also suffered.
By contrast, defensive stocks such as Nestlé (-0.3 percent), Roche GS (-0.6 percent) and Lindt & Sprüngli PS (-0.1 percent) fared best.
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