Zurich (awp) – The Swiss stock market is expected to open small on Thursday as investors are on hold ahead of central bankers meeting in Jackson Hole. In Switzerland, a series of companies from the wider market have disclosed their half-yearly financial performance.
The New York Stock Exchange was dragged to new heights on Wednesday evening by leading stocks in the technology sector. Wall Street’s flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, gained 0.30% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq appreciated 1.73%.
“The volumes were not very high, however, investors preferring to wait for the Jackson Hole meeting where certain crucial revelations could be made” on the state of the economy, said John Plassard of Mirabaud Banque.
This meeting of major central bankers, which is due to start Thursday evening, should cause European indices to open without trend. The intervention of the head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, could animate the session in the afternoon, added Mr. Plassard.
The coronavirus pandemic continued to heavily affect the economy. Switzerland thus fell into recession in the second quarter, posting a quarterly GDP contraction of 8.2% between April and the end of June.
At 8:04 a.m., the pre-stock SMI was up just 0.29% to 10,339.86 points, according to prior guidance provided by Julius Bär. The day before, the star index had risen 0.77%.
Givaudan (+ 0.5%) was at the top of the table, after having unveiled its new medium-term objectives. The world leader in the sector expects to deliver organic sales growth of 4% to 5% on a comparable basis over the period up to 2025 and free cash flow of around 12%.
The three heavyweights Nestlé (+ 0.2%), Novartis (+ 0.3%) and Roche (+ 0.2%) were on average, as were banks Credit Suisse (+ 0.3%) and UBS (+ 0.4%).
The news was packed on the enlarged market. Bâloise (-1.7%) went against the general trend. The half-year results show that the insurance group has been more severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic than expected, the figures being well below the expectations of analysts polled by AWP. But management feels confident for the 2020 financial year.
Tecan (-1.5%) fell, while Berenberg lowered the recommendation of the title to “hold”.
Sunrise (+ 0.3%) rose modestly. The operator took the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic relatively well in the second quarter. If its revenues have remained almost stable, the number two Swiss in the sector, the subject of a takeover offer from the owner of UPC Switzerland, Liberty Global, has nevertheless seen its profitability decline.
al / fr
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