Investec Switzerland. Swiss talks with the European Union about immigration restrictions mustn’t be impacted by the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. © Joachim Eckel | Dreamstime.com “In the EU, we should carry on negotiations with Switzerland in the same way as we would have if there were no question on Britain,” Merkel said after a meeting with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Amman in Berlin on Wednesday. “Switzerland has a right as...
Read More »Swiss franc rises to strongest level since June
Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. © Valeriya Potapova | Dreamstime.com The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after an ABC poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump narrowly ahead in the U.S. presidential race a week before the...
Read More »Swiss franc rises to strongest level since June
Investec Switzerland. The Swiss franc climbed on Wednesday as global stocks fell and demand for haven assets increased on growing concerns that the U.S. presidential race had tightened. © Valeriya Potapova | Dreamstime.com The franc reached its strongest level versus the euro since June and advanced against the dollar. Demand for havens is being stoked after an ABC poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump narrowly ahead in the U.S. presidential race a week before the...
Read More »UBS says Swiss property market remains at risk of bubble: chart
Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. By Catherine Bosley (Bloomberg) Exposed regions include: Lake Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Zug, Luzern and...
Read More »UBS says Swiss property market remains at risk of bubble: chart
Investec Switzerland. Risks to the Swiss property market remained elevated in the three months through September, according to UBS Group AG’s quarterly index. “While the buy-to-rent price ratio reached an all-time high, moderate mortgage growth and the slightly-improved economy prevented imbalances in the owner-occupied housing market from widening,” it said in a report. By Catherine Bosley (Bloomberg) Exposed regions include: Lake Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Zug, Luzern and...
Read More »Swiss fact: Velcro, popularised by NASA, was invented in Switzerland
In 1941, George de Mestral, while hunting in the Jura, with his son and dogs, noticed how the plant burdock stuck with microscopic hooks to his trousers and to the ears of one of his dogs. Fifteen years later the strong-willed Vaud handy man had turned his observation into something: Velcro ®. Wild burdock_© Olga Budonna | Dreamstime.com He carried his hunting trip observation around in his head for ten years before realizing it could be used as an alternative to a zip, an earlier american...
Read More »Swiss fact: Velcro, popularised by NASA, was invented in Switzerland
In 1941, George de Mestral, while hunting in the Jura, with his son and dogs, noticed how the plant burdock stuck with microscopic hooks to his trousers and to the ears of one of his dogs. Fifteen years later the strong-willed Vaud handy man had turned his observation into something: Velcro ®. Wild burdock_© Olga Budonna | Dreamstime.com He carried his hunting trip observation around in his head for ten years before realizing it could be used as an alternative to a zip, an earlier american...
Read More »UBS reports drop in wealth profit as Ermotti lowers costs
Investec Switzerland. UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts after profit at the wealth-management business fell and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs ($883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier on lower expenses, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement Friday. That compares with the 862 million-franc average of six analyst estimates...
Read More »UBS reports drop in wealth profit as Ermotti lowers costs
Investec Switzerland. UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pledged to continue cost cuts after profit at the wealth-management business fell and the securities unit was hurt by a slump in equities trading. Pretax profit rose 11 percent to 877 million Swiss francs ($883 million) from 788 million francs a year earlier on lower expenses, the Zurich-based bank said in a statement Friday. That compares with the 862 million-franc average of six analyst estimates...
Read More »Pharma giants drag SMI stocks down
Investec Switzerland. A weak performance from Swiss pharma giants pulled the Swiss Market Index down again this week after investors dropped stocks in the sector on lackluster earnings reports. The peripheral European stocks and Japan managed to buck the trend this week, global stock markets remain under pressure in the run up to US election. © Fahrner78 | Dreamstime.com Italian and Spanish markets were this week’s winners among global equity markets. Spain’s main stock...
Read More »