Swiss stocks saw a decline on Friday, as the Swiss Market Index wrapped up a tumultuous trading week down by 1%. Recent government statistics revealed that the consumer sentiment index in Switzerland hit -37 points in October, slipping from -33.7 points in September and falling short of the anticipated -33 points.
In positive news, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute noted an uptick in its global economic barometers for November, with the leading barometer rising by 2.4 points to 104.7 and the coincident barometer up by 2.6 points to 96.5. KOF director Jan-Egbert Sturm commented on the situation: "The coincident indicator is taking a clear step towards its long-term average, something we have been waiting for almost a year.
On the one hand, the leading indicator remains much more favorable than the coincident indicator. That raises hopes that we may indeed see further steps towards a normalization of the global economy." On the corporate front, Julius Bär Gruppe ($BAER) is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs to investigate a potential sale of its Brazilian subsidiary.
Sources indicated that Brazilian banks and multifamily offices were approached regarding the possible deal. Julius Bär's shares dipped by 0.75% by the end of the trading day. Compagnie Financière Richemont ($CFR) faced a more significant setback, with shares closing down 6.61% after reporting a fall in revenue for the first half of the fiscal year ending September 30, primarily due to decreased sales in the Asia Pacific region, especially in China.
The Swiss luxury powerhouse also experienced a decline in profit, impacted by a 1.27 billion-euro loss from discontinued operations related to a noncash writedown from the sale of its Yoox Net-a-Porter unit. Analysts from RBC noted, "Jewellery Maison revenues increased by +4% organic which are in-line with consensus and demonstrate healthy continued momentum for the group's key division.
We expect this to broadly continue into cal-2024, however, note the wider luxury demand and macroeconomic backdrop is less favorable, and we are likely to see more moderate growth from here ... Richemont shares have re-rated towards sector levels, which leaves less to play for in the near term as we believe consensus earnings are broadly in the right place.".