Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. SMI stocks, along with markets around the world, started 2016 in a state of chaos this week as weak economic data from China, heightened tensions in the Middle East and crude oil prices tumbling to multi-year lows wreaked havoc on investor sentiment. Markets slumped around the globe after Chinese […]
2015, a turbulent year for Swiss equities
31 December 2015 – 2015 Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI is expected to end the year largely unchanged (-1.84%), achieving a modestly better performance than the MSCI World (-3.58%) in 2015. However, the year was more turbulent than these figures suggest as share prices fluctuated wildly throughout 2015, dominated […]
Swiss watch boom years over
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. As the Swiss watch industry prepares for the fourth straight year of little to no growth, big producers such as Richemont, the owner of Cartier, are trimming back investment in production while some smaller rivals look for a buyer or risk going under. Switzerland, the world’s biggest watch-producing country […]
Could Syngenta be close to a merger?
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Syngenta AG Chairman Michel Demare said his company is in “advanced, formal and intense negotiations” with competitors about a possible combination, as the global agrochemicals industry consolidates and the merger of DuPont. Co. and Dow Chemical Co. adds pressure on others to review their standalone strategy. Speaking extensively in […]
Swiss watch exports fall in November on steep Hong Kong decline
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss watch exports dropped in November, led by a 28 percent decline in shipments to Hong Kong, the industry’s largest market. Shipments slid 5.6 percent to 1.95 billion Swiss francs ($1.96 billion), according to figures released Tuesday by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. That compares with a […]
Swiss stocks outperform as Fed rate rise brings volatility to markets
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks outperformed global equity markets in a week of volatile trading after the Federal Reserve finally raised US interest rates for the first time in a decade on Wednesday. The decision by the FOMC to raise rates by 0.25% to 0.50% for the first time since 2006 draws […]
Swiss stocks hit by diverging central bank policy
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks followed global equity markets lower this week after oil tumbled to a seven year low, hitting commodity producing emerging markets, while uncertainty around next week’s anticipated US rate hike weighed further on investor sentiment. U.S. and European monetary policy is expected to officially diverge next week when […]
Swiss National Bank announcement pushes franc higher
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced today that it is maintaining its expansionary monetary policy. The target range for three-month Libor remains unchanged at between –1.25% and –0.25%, and the interest rate on sight deposits with the SNB stays the same at –0.75%. The announcement pushed the franc as high […]
Swiss national bank’s foreign currency holdings reach all-time high
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank’s holdings of foreign currency soared to an all-time high in November, a month that the franc depreciated roughly 4 percent against the dollar. The reserves, on which economists keep a close watch for clues to the central bank’s interventions, rose to 562.7 billion francs ($563 […]
SMI underperforms after Draghi disappoints
4 December 2015 – Weekly Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI underperformed the MSCI World this week along with other European markets after a cut in the European Central Bank’s deposit rate and the magnitude of the extension of its quantitative-easing plan announced on Thursday afternoon disappointed investors. While […]
