The Swiss stock exchange ended the session with gains following a hesitant start, with the Swiss Market Index climbing 0.61 percent to close at 14,889 points at the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich. Support for the leading index came primarily from heavyweight Roche, which gained 2.8 percent, alongside a minor increase of 0.3 percent for Novartis. Novartis managed to shake off news of an investigation by the US health authority FDA regarding its Zolgensma gene therapy. Nestlé also moved higher, advancing 0.3 percent. Other healthcare sector equities showed positive momentum, with Sandoz shares rising 0.8 percent, which traders attributed to a product launch, while Alcon posted a decline of 0.2 percent.
The top performers within the SMI were ABB and Sika, registering increases of 2.4 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. UBS shares advanced 1.2 percent to finish the session at 39.96 francs. Conversely, Galderma and Lonza experienced profit-taking, declining 0.6 percent each. Negative analyst commentary weighed on Swiss Re, sending the reinsurer down 1.1 percent to the bottom of the SMI table. Among smaller capitalisation stocks, Cicor surged 10.1 percent after securing two multi-year defense orders. R&S jumped 7.2 percent following a target price increase and a confirmed buy rating from UBS. Additional demand was seen in shares of ASM Osram, which rose 7.9 percent, Accelleron, up 6.3 percent, Phoenix Mecano, advancing 5.8 percent, and DocMorris, which climbed 5.9 percent. On the downside, Molecular Partners continued its downward trend with a 2.7 percent loss, while Mikron and Feintool recorded declines of slightly more than two percent.
Across the Atlantic, US stock markets opened the week with broad gains, supported in part by a drop in oil prices after US President Donald Trump stated that new large-scale US attacks on Iran were highly unlikely. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose in early trading by 1.4 percent to 52,009 points. Investors in the broader technology sector remained relatively calm despite a decline in Nvidia shares amid concerns over a potential leadership crisis at the chip manufacturer. Nvidia stock dropped by nearly five percent following media reports linking Chief Executive Jensen Huang to an affair with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy, an accusation that Beijing rejected. Analysts at Index-Radar described a potential resignation by Huang as a significant risk, noting his central role in shaping the company and the artificial intelligence boom.
Despite the Nvidia selloff, the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 2.4 percent to 27,635 points, extending its recovery from Friday. The broader S&P 500 advanced 1.7 percent to 7,500 points. The Nasdaq received strong support from major hyperscalers, with Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet recording gains between 3 percent and 5.4 percent, while Tesla and Apple also moved higher. Demand extended to artificial intelligence hardware equities, as processor manufacturer AMD gained 8.5 percent, rival Intel rose 2 percent, and memory chip producer Sandisk advanced 5.6 percent.
Citigroup strategists adopted a more cautious stance on US equities and the global technology sector. While maintaining a constructive outlook on artificial intelligence assets, the US bank's experts stated they intend to wait for position unwinding and sentiment stabilization before returning to an overweight rating, pointing instead to potential in European equities outside the United Kingdom. According to market analyst Maximilian Wienke at broker e-Toro, investors face a packed schedule ahead of upcoming US inflation data and potential interest rate developments, which could determine whether the market retains momentum for an end-of-year rally following months of election uncertainty.
