The Swiss stock market closed with a small loss on Thursday. The market got off to a slow start following yesterday's announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed announced that it had decided to extend Operation Twist, a bond exchange program that was due to expire this month. However, the Fed did not commit to a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, as many investors had hoped.
Weak economic data from China and Europe also had a negative effect on the markets in early trade. The market was also impacted by some weaker than expected economic results from the U.S. in the afternoon.
The Swiss Market Index fell by 0.10 percent Thursday and closed at 6,012.19. The Swiss Leader Index declined by 0.17 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.17 percent.
Novartis finished with a gain of 0.80 percent Thursday and Roche closed higher by 0.50. However, Nestle declined by 0.50 percent. Holcim gained 2.14 percent after it was upgraded to "Overweight" from "Underweight" at HSBC.
Swiss Life rose by 1.99 percent, after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Hold." The rest of the insurance stocks finished the day in the red. Swiss Re fell by 0.4 percent, Baloise lost 1.3 percent and Zurich declined by 1.1 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.