le News

Investec Switzerland. Swatch Group AG said first-half profit fell by more than half — the most in at least 15 years — as demand for its watches in Hong Kong, France and Switzerland collapsed. © Radub85 | Dreamstime.com Sales fell about 12 percent, the Biel, Switzerland-based maker of Omega and Tissot timepieces said in an unscheduled statement on preliminary results. Analysts expected a 22 percent drop in net income and a 7 percent revenue decline. The stock fell as much as...

Investec Switzerland. The Swiss Market Index (SMI) is set to finish this week higher tracking equity market gains around the world as investors begin to anticipate a new wave of economic stimulus from central banks. © Michael Flippo | Dreamstime.com Global equity markets rebounded from their post-Brexit losses as expectations of further stimulus gathered pace. Investors now expect the Federal Reserve to be slower in hiking rates and are also anticipating economic boosts...

20 Minutes. Various Swiss unions along with the socialist and green parties have launched an initiative to increase pensions. Their plan, which demands a 10% increase in pension payments, will be put before Swiss voters in a referendum on 25 September 2016. © Anne Barroil | Dreamstime.com The cost of the plan could be as high as CHF 4.1 billion. Those behind the vote propose increasing social security taxes by 0.8% to fund the rise. Pension increases would equate to an extra CHF 2,400 a year...

Investec Switzerland. European insurers, whose profits are being eroded by Mario Draghi’s quantitative-easing program, face a stress-test headache that risks requiring them to set aside more capital, further hurting their ability to make money. © Aaron Kohr | Dreamstime.com The timing of the regulator’s “stress test couldn’t be worse as the results will be rather negative,” said Lutz Roehmeyer, who helps oversee about $12 billion as director of fund management at Landesbank...

Last Thursday, when we reported that Ben Bernanke was to "secretly" meet with Kuroda and Abe this week (he is said to have already met with Japan's central bank head earlier today), we said that "something big was coming" out of Japan which had "helicopter money" on the agenda.  And sure enough, after a dramatic victory for Abe in Japan's upper house elections which gave his party an even greater majority, Abe announced the first hints of helicopter money when Nikkei reported, and Abe...

Investec Switzerland. The SMI is set to post moderate losses this week as the post-Brexit relief rally faded and commodities slipped. Swiss stocks outperformed key European markets as investor’s fled to quality stocks such as Nestlé, Novartis and Roche. © Maciek905 | Dreamstime.com After Swiss companies trailed their peers from Germany, France and Italy for most of the past year, the Swiss Market Index is finally moving upwards. The rally began on June 28 and saw the SMI...

Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks, dislodged in 2015 as a haven from European volatility, have seen the status restored following Brexit — so much that some investors are balking at valuations. After trailing shares from Germany to France and Italy for most the past year, the Swiss Market Index is finding a new appeal in the fallout of the U.K. vote to leave the European Union. Investors buying up megacaps including Nestle SA, Novartis AG and Roche Holding AG have pushed...

Investec Switzerland. Global equity markets are set to post gains this week as investors digest the impact of the UK’s historic vote to leave the European Union. Swiss stocks outperformed global markets as defensive heavyweights Nestlé, Roche and Novartis led gains. © Paulbroad | Dreamstime.com Volatility remained high with markets rebounding from last week’s heavy losses as tensions began to ease following the UK referendum. Bargain hunters took advantage of badly beaten...

Investec Switzerland. Nespresso beware: Your status as Nestle’s favorite child is under threat from your scruffy kid brother. Nestle SA, creator of the high-end Nespresso brand of coffee pods and espresso machines, is increasingly leaning on a cheaper range of single-serve coffees that it calls Nescafe Dolce Gusto. © Roberto Del Bianco | Dreamstime.com Since Nestle launched Nespresso three decades ago, the brand has become one of the Swiss company’s most profitable products....

Investec Switzerland. Nestle SA rose the most in more than four months as investors welcomed the surprise appointment of Fresenius SE’s Ulf Mark Schneider as successor to Chief Executive Officer Paul Bulcke. © Neil Harrison | Dreamstime.com The stock gained 2.7 percent to 73.05 Swiss francs at 10:16 a.m. in Zurich as analysts said the health-care executive’s arrival may portend a strategic revamp at Europe’s biggest company by market value. “Nestle is in need of fresh legs,”...