The Swiss stock market opened the new week on a cautiously positive note on Monday, 24 November 2025, with the Swiss Market Index (SMI) grinding higher as global rate‑cut hopes lifted risk appetite, even as fresh legal headlines around UBS and lingering macro worries capped gains.
According to real‑time data, the SMI was trading around 12,680 points, up roughly 0.4–0.5% on the day, leaving the benchmark near the upper end of its recent range and about 8–9% higher year‑to‑date.
Below is a full rundown of what moved Swiss stocks today and why it matters for investors watching the Zurich market.
SMI today: modest gains, but still a cautious tone
As of the latest available quotes, the SMI hovered near 12,680 points, up around 0.4%–0.5%, with an intraday range roughly between 12,620 and 12,710.
- The index remains well above its 52‑week low near 10,700 and not far from its high above 13,000, underscoring how resilient Swiss blue chips have been compared with many other European markets.
- Over the past week, however, performance has flattened, with the SMI up only fractionally over five trading days as investors digest weaker domestic macro data and a noisy global rate outlook.
Today’s move in Switzerland closely tracked a broader European rebound. The pan‑European STOXX 600 gained about 0.4% as investors priced in a higher probability that the U.S. Federal Reserve could cut rates at its December meeting, following comments from Fed officials and softer economic data.
At the same time, markets are watching Ukraine peace talks taking place in Switzerland, which have helped push European defence stocks lower but supported overall risk sentiment across the region.
Tech and cyclicals lead: Logitech, ABB and Richemont at the top
Within the SMI, growth and cyclical names were firmly in the lead:
- Logitech International was the strongest blue‑chip gainer, rising about 3.6%.
- ABB advanced roughly 2.3%, supported by the global bid for industrial and automation names.
- Luxury group Richemont gained about 2.2%, extending the recent rebound in European luxury stocks as investors look past short‑term demand volatility and focus on medium‑term brand strength.
- Logistics heavyweight Kuehne + Nagel climbed about 1.7%, while building‑materials giant Holcim added close to 1.5%.
The leadership mix is a classic “risk‑on” pattern: tech, exporters and economically sensitive stocks outperforming defensives and insurance. That positioning fits with the broader European narrative today, where bank, construction and technology shares have been among the main winners as traders rotate into assets that benefit most from lower future borrowing costs.
Pharma and insurers drag: Roche and Swiss Re on the back foot
Gains in the SMI were tempered by weakness in some of Switzerland’s heavyweight defensives:
- Roche was among the sharpest decliners in the index, falling about 1.1% amid profit‑taking after recent outperformance and against a backdrop of sector‑wide rotation out of defensive healthcare.
- Swiss Re slipped roughly 0.8%, while Zurich Insurance and UBS Group were marginally lower on the day.
- Engineering group Geberit also traded slightly in the red, off about 0.05%.
The combined effect: high‑beta winners pushed the SMI higher, but the index’s defensive heavyweights stopped it from fully matching the broader European rally.
UBS in focus: legal overhang keeps shares under pressure
UBS Group once again sat at the centre of today’s Swiss market narrative, with two legal developments grabbing headlines:
- U.S. Supreme Court refuses to revive whistleblower award
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from former UBS bond strategist Trevor Murray, effectively refusing to reinstate a $2.6 million jury award in his whistleblower case over allegedly misleading research reports.
- A U.S. appeals court had previously thrown out the award, citing flawed jury instructions, even after an earlier Supreme Court ruling that had been seen as favourable to whistleblowers.
- UBS’s shares were down modestly—about 0.1–0.2% around the time of the ruling—reflecting relief that the case is not escalating further, but also reminding investors of the bank’s continuing legal complexity.
- Credit Suisse legacy case: Ivanishvili ruling upheld but damages recalculated
- In London, a Credit Suisse life‑insurance subsidiary, now part of UBS, lost an appeal against a Bermudan judgment awarding Bidzina Ivanishvili, former Georgian prime minister, hundreds of millions of dollars over losses tied to a fraud by ex‑adviser Patrice Lescaudron.
- The Privy Council upheld the bank’s liability but ordered that the $607 million damages figure be recalculated, which introduces some uncertainty on the final bill but confirms responsibility.
- UBS noted it “takes note” of the decision, but the case reinforces the legacy risk inherited from Credit Suisse, something equity investors are watching closely.
Against this backdrop, UBS traded slightly lower and appeared among the worst performers in the SMI ranking, even though the percentage move was small in absolute terms.
SGS deal news: Australian acquisition underscores Swiss corporate expansion
Beyond the SMI heavyweights, SGS, the Swiss testing and inspection specialist, contributed a more upbeat corporate headline:
- SGS announced the acquisition of Australian data‑management firm Information Quality, with completion expected in early 2026.
- The deal fits SGS’s strategy of extending its data and certification capabilities across key industrial and infrastructure markets, particularly in the Asia‑Pacific region.
The stock traded modestly higher—around +0.3%—in today’s session, suggesting investors view the transaction as a manageable, bolt‑on expansion rather than a transformative risk.
Macro backdrop: softer labour data and a recent GDP contraction
Today’s trading unfolded against a backdrop of softening Swiss macro data and an economy still digesting the shock from U.S. tariffs earlier in the year.
Labour market: nonfarm payroll growth slows to 0.1%
Fresh data released this morning showed that Swiss nonfarm payrolls grew just 0.1% in Q3, a clear slowdown compared with earlier quarters and another sign of cooling labour demand in a maturing cycle.
The figure adds to the picture of an economy that is no longer overheating, giving the Swiss National Bank (SNB) more breathing room on policy—but also underscoring the need for external demand and trade flows to normalise.
GDP: Q3 contraction and the tariff story
On November 17, official figures showed that Swiss GDP shrank 0.5% quarter‑on‑quarter in Q3 2025, the first quarterly contraction since 2023. The decline was driven largely by:
- Weakness in chemicals and pharmaceuticals, a key export engine.
- A broader global slowdown and a sharp shock from U.S. tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports, introduced in August.
The same report noted that growth in the services sector was also below average, reinforcing concerns that Switzerland is facing a synchronised slowdown, not just a manufacturing hiccup.
Tariff relief, but not a “game changer”
A new framework trade agreement with the United States, announced earlier in November, will cut U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods to 15% from 39%.
Over the weekend, SNB Chairman Martin Schlegel said the tariff cut is helpful but not a “game changer” for the Swiss economy, pointing out that the punitive duties affected only a relatively small share of total exports.
That cautious message matters for markets:
- It tempers expectations that tariff relief alone will rapidly restore growth.
- It keeps the spotlight on global demand, currency strength and the domestic policy mix as the main drivers for Swiss corporate earnings in 2026.
SIX Group’s pan‑European ambitions: structural tailwind for Zurich
A structural story sitting just behind today’s tick‑by‑tick moves is the evolving role of SIX Group, owner of the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges and, since this summer, London‑based challenger Aquis Exchange.
A Reuters report published in recent days—and highlighted again in today’s Swiss market coverage—said that SIX is:
- Exploring the launch of a pan‑European equity exchange focused on small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs), leveraging its platforms in Zurich, Madrid and London.
- Considering smaller, targeted acquisitions to strengthen data and post‑trade services, while ruling out large, highly leveraged deals for now.
- Grappling with a projected net loss of around 300 million Swiss francs in 2025, driven mainly by the steep decline in the value of its 10.5% stake in French payments group Worldline.
For the Swiss stock market, this matters in two ways:
- Listing ecosystem: A pan‑European SME venue anchored by SIX could make Zurich an even more important gateway for mid‑cap issuers, complementing the heavyweight SMI segment with a deeper growth‑stock pipeline.
- Investor perception: Even though SIX is not itself in the SMI, its strategy shapes how international investors view liquidity, depth and innovation on the Swiss market relative to other European centres.
European backdrop: rate‑cut bets and Ukraine talks drive sentiment
Today’s Swiss session cannot be separated from what is happening across Europe:
- The STOXX 600 was up about 0.4%, recovering from its steepest weekly drop since late July, as traders responded to comments from Fed officials suggesting U.S. rates could be cut “in the near term”, even as other policymakers preached caution.
- Bank stocks and technology names were among the biggest winners in Europe, which helps explain the strength in Swiss names like UBS (despite legal noise) and Logitech.
- Meanwhile, progress in Ukraine peace talks hosted in Switzerland has weighed on defence stocks but supported broader risk sentiment, adding another subtle tailwind to equity indices including the SMI.
What today means for Swiss equity investors
Putting it all together, here’s what Monday’s session tells us about the Swiss stock market outlook:
- Resilience amid macro headwinds: Despite a Q3 GDP contraction and softer labour data, Swiss equities continue to trade near their yearly highs, suggesting investors see the slowdown as manageable—especially with tariff relief now in sight.
- Ongoing rotation below the surface: The SMI headline gain masks a sharp divergence between high‑beta winners (Logitech, ABB, Richemont) and defensive laggards (Roche, Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance). Today’s pattern is consistent with positioning for lower global rates and a potential rebound in cyclical earnings.
- Bank litigation risk remains a theme: UBS’s modest share decline, despite multiple legal setbacks, suggests much of the Credit Suisse legacy risk is already in the price, but investors are still highly sensitive to fresh court rulings and regulatory developments.
- Structural exchange story is quietly bullish: SIX’s pan‑European ambitions, combined with its control of major listing venues in Switzerland, the EU and the UK, could gradually raise the profile and liquidity of Swiss‑listed companies, even if the near‑term hit from its Worldline stake weighs on profits.
For now, November 24, 2025 will likely go down as a constructively quiet session in Zurich: modest index gains, notable single‑stock stories in UBS and SGS, and a macro narrative that remains challenging but not yet alarming.
