NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 09:28 ET — Market closed
- Switzerland’s blue-chip SMI last closed up 0.2% on Dec. 30, with Zurich shut on Dec. 31 for the New Year holiday.
- UBS and Richemont led gains, while Novartis and Alcon slipped in the final session before the break.
- Traders are watching the Swiss franc after the SNB reported a sharp slowdown in its foreign-currency purchases.
Swiss shares ended the last trading session of 2025 modestly higher, with banks and luxury names helping the market hold near recent peaks on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Swiss Market Index (SMI) closed up 0.2% at 13,267.48 points on Dec. 30, according to .
The move matters because the Zurich market is shut for the New Year holiday, leaving investors to trade Switzerland mostly through currencies and global risk sentiment until cash equities reopen. Reuters reported that Switzerland’s market was already closed on Dec. 31 as year-end trading thinned across Europe.
European equities capped their strongest annual run since 2021, supported by falling interest rates and a powerful rally in banks, even as volumes dried up into the holiday. That backdrop has mattered for Switzerland, where financials and global consumer names can move with broader European flows.
The SMI’s Dec. 30 trading range ran from 13,206.52 to 13,285.32, leaving it just shy of its 52-week high of 13,288.66, the same dataset showed.
UBS shares rose about 0.9% in the latest session, while Richemont gained roughly 0.85%, market data compiled by Markets Insider showed. Both are heavyweight components of the Swiss blue-chip index.
On the weaker side, Novartis fell about 0.27% and eye-care group Alcon slipped about 0.35%, the same data showed. Defensive healthcare often trades on different drivers than cyclicals such as banks and industrials, especially when currency moves are in focus.
Currency is now back on the front burner after the Swiss National Bank reported it bought 75 million Swiss francs’ worth of foreign currencies in the third quarter, down sharply from 5.06 billion francs in the second quarter. The central bank’s data landed late on Dec. 31.
The SNB uses foreign-currency buying as one tool to counter a rising Swiss franc. A stronger franc can squeeze exporters by making Swiss goods pricier abroad and by reducing the value of overseas earnings when translated back into francs.
“I think the falling U.S. dollar and White House volatility have led investors to seek value elsewhere,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, in a Reuters report on the year-end European rally. Reuters
Before the next Swiss session, traders will also navigate a holiday-clipped calendar: Zurich is closed on Jan. 1 for New Year’s Day and on Jan. 2 for Berchtoldstag, a local holiday observed in parts of Switzerland. That puts the next reopening after the weekend.
The macro diary turns busier next week, with the euro zone’s flash inflation estimate scheduled for Jan. 7, followed by Switzerland’s CPI release on Jan. 8, according to the ECB and Investing.com calendars.
U.S. payrolls data is due Jan. 9, when the Labor Department releases the Employment Situation report for December 2025, a key input for rate expectations that often sets the tone for European and Swiss risk appetite.
