Swiss stocks opened positively on their first trading session of 2025, despite the backdrop of thin trading volumes resulting from the New Year and Berchtholdstag holidays. The Swiss Market Index showed a modest increase, closing up by 0.20% on Friday. Economic indicators revealed that Switzerland's manufacturing PMI dipped slightly to 48.4 points in December 2024 from the previous month's 48.5.
This figure remains below the critical growth threshold of 50 points; however, it is slightly above the consensus estimate of 48.3 as reported by procure.ch and UBS. Meanwhile, data from Germany indicated that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 6.1% for December 2024, aligning with market forecasts.
The country experienced a modest rise in the number of unemployed individuals, with an increase of 10,000 compared to November. On the corporate front, the Swiss investment company Nebag reported a provisional net asset value of 7.03 francs per share for 2024, which is a decrease from 7.93 francs per share in the same period of the previous year.
This performance resulted in Nebag's stock closing down by 0.78%. Conversely, UBS Group saw a positive uptick of 2.63% following an upgrade from BNP Paribas Exane, which adjusted its rating from neutral to outperform, raising the price target to 35.00 francs from 27.50 francs. Analysts expressed optimism that UBS is poised to increase its share buybacks, which has alleviated some market concerns regarding the potential impacts of revised Swiss capital regulations.
These revisions may release capital from UBS's foreign subsidiaries, effectively countering some of the most concerning elements of the proposed changes according to various sources, including Bloomberg News..