Swiss Market Settles Modestly Higher

The Switzerland market shrugged off a sluggish start and stayed fairly steady right till the end of the session on Friday to finish modestly higher.

The benchmark SMI, which edged down to 12,866.86 in early trades, climbed to 12,961.10 before finally settling at 12,936.30, with a gain of 42.69 points or 0.33%.

Amrize rallied 4.39% and UBS Group climbed 4.1%. Alcon gained about 3.1%, and Sika ended with a gain of 2.4%.

Partners Group advanced nearly 2%. Julius Baer, Sandoz Group and Sonova gained 1.43%, 1.19% and 1.05%, respectively.

Swiss Re tumbled 6.5% after the company outlined its updated strategy and financial targets for 2026, including a group net income goal of $4.5 billion and the planned introduction of a sustainable annual share buyback programme starting in 2026 at $500 million, contingent on meeting its 2025 earnings target.

VAT Group closed lower by about 2.6%, while Lindt & Spruengli and Logitech International lost 1.44% and 1.27%, respectively. Lonza Group ended nearly 1% down.

Data released by the Swiss National Bank showed the bank’s foreign exchange reserves rose to CHF 727.39 billion in November, the highest value in nine months, compared to an upwardly revised CHF 724.9 billion in October.