ZURICH (Dow Jones) — On the last trading day of the year, the Swiss stock market went down. The daily trend thus followed that of the year, which brought the SMI a minus of almost 17 percent. Interest rate hikes by the central banks due to inflation that was far too high, the zero-Covid policy in China and the war in Ukraine with its negative effects on the global economy all spoiled the 2022 balance sheet.
On Friday, as on the neighboring European stock exchanges, concerns about a possible new wave of corona infections after the easing in China weighed on the mood. In addition, the aggressive tightening policy of the central banks is likely to continue to determine events for the time being. The start of the new year could therefore be bumpy.
The SMI lost 1.2 percent to 10,729 points. All 20 SMI values closed in the red. 28.2 (Thursday: 23.0) million shares were traded.
Distribution specialist DKSH has sold its 25 percent stake in luxury watch manufacturer Bovet Fleurier to majority shareholder Pascal Raffy. The share traded 1.5 percent lighter at the end of the year.
Among luxury goods stocks, Richemont lost 1.4 percent and Swatch 1.4 percent. They suffered from the wave of Covid infections in China because the market there is of central importance for companies.
The three SMI index heavyweights, which are considered defensive, contributed to the weak overall market. Nestle, Novartis and Roche lost between 0.8 and 1.4 percent.
The weakest share in the annual balance sheet, Credit Suisse, lost another 1.6 percent, the annual minus amounts to a good 70 percent. The major bank has been hit hard and reported high losses since the debacles surrounding the multi-billion dollar collapse of the Archegos hedge fund and the liquidation of the Greensill fund. In the meantime, radical strategic measures have been decided to get out of the crisis, for which new capital was raised, among other things.
Zurich Insurance performed best in 2022 with an annual increase of 11 percent. The stock fell 1.1 percent on Friday.
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December 30, 2022 11:48 ET (16:48 GMT)
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