The Swiss stock market closed notably weaker on Wednesday, with the benchmark equity index dropping nearly 1.2 percent. The retreat was prompted by worries about U.S. growth, with traders concerned about a slowdown in the world's biggest economy.
In a speech delivered Tuesday evening, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a cautious tone, saying that unless a sustained period of strong job growth appears, there is no assurance that a recovery has taken hold. This spawned a pessimistic environment at the outset of trading, with the mood weakening in the afternoon as traders waited for the Fed's Beige Book report, due out late Wednesday.
The blue-chip SMI dropped 1.17 percent on the day to close at 6,256.86. The SLI fell 1.29 percent to 972.48. The SPI declined 1.18 percent to 5,759.01.
Clariant was among the worst performers on the day, dropping by 3.6 percent. Shares were hurt by general economic fears and by negative analyst comments. Logitech was another loser, falling 3.4 percent after UBS lowered its price target on the stock.
Financial and cyclical stocks were hard hit. Among the financials, UBS dropped 2.1 percent and CS declined by 1.5 percent. In the cyclical sector, ABB, Adecco and Kuehne + Nagel were each down by more than 2 percent.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.