The Swiss market experienced a significant decline on Friday, mirroring the trend across European markets. This downturn was primarily influenced by positive U.S. employment figures, which sparked worries that the Federal Reserve might maintain its current interest rates rather than reducing them this year. Additionally, an uptick in Swiss unemployment data contributed to the negative sentiment.
The benchmark Swiss Market Index (SMI) ended the day down 135.20 points, a decrease of 1.13%, closing at 11,791.91—just above its daily low of 11,784.80.
Notably, UBS Group saw a drop of nearly 2%. Other major firms including Roche Holding, Zurich Insurance Group, Holcim, ABB, Nestle, Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding, Adecco, Geberit, Givaudan, and Partners Group witnessed declines ranging from 1% to 1.7%.
Conversely, SIG Group surged by 5.3%, with Straumann Holding also performing well, rising by 2.05%. Sonova saw an increase of 1.3%, and modest gains were recorded by VAT Group, Alcon, and Sika.
According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Switzerland's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 2.6% in December, consistent with November's figures and contrary to forecasts predicting a rise to 2.7%. However, the unadjusted unemployment rate increased to 2.8% in December, up from 2.6% the previous month.
For the year 2024, the average unemployment rate stood at 2.4%, rising from 2% in 2023. Youth unemployment showed a similar trend, climbing to 2.3% in 2024, up from 2% in the prior year.
In the U.S., the Labor Department reported a substantial increase in non-farm payroll employment, which rose by 256,000 in December. This follows a revised increase of 212,000 jobs in November. Economists had forecast a rise of 160,000 jobs, compared to the initially reported 227,000 jobs for November.
The U.S. unemployment rate nudged down slightly to 4.1% in December, from 4.2% in November, despite expectations for it to remain unchanged.
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