Swiss stocks staged a recovery on Thursday, with the Swiss Market Index closing 1.69% higher, as investors digested a fresh batch of economic data prints that hit the market.
The annual inflation rate in Switzerland ticked down to 0.5% in June from 0.6% in May, government data showed. Month over month, consumer prices remained stable, against the prior 0.2% rise and the expected 0.1% uptick.
"The stability of the index compared with the previous month was the result of contrasting trends that offset one another overall. Prices for fruiting vegetables and stem vegetables increased. Hotels and other accommodation providers also recorded a price increase, as did car rental and car sharing," the Federal Statistical Office said. "In contrast, prices for air transport decreased, as did those for heating oil and diesel."
Elsewhere and on the jobs front, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area stood at 6.2% in May, unchanged from the previous month's revised figure. Meanwhile, the US unemployment rate declined to 4.2% in June from 4.3% a month before.
Over to corporates, UBS Group's (UBSG.SW) eligible common equity Tier 1 capital exceeds the fully applied capital requirements under the existing "too-big-to-fail" regulations by $9 billion as of the first quarter of 2026, according to the Swiss National Bank (SNBN.SW).
"UBS can be expected to be able to comply with the proposed capital measures, while continuing to distribute profits to its shareholders," the SNB said in its latest financial stability report, taking into account the group's reserves and expected profits, as well as the seven-year transition period to meet the revised requirements. UBS shares were up 1.96% at closing.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche (RO.SW) also saw its shares rise 3.89% as it announced that the late-stage Krascendo 1 trial evaluating its investigational divarasib therapy met its primary and key secondary endpoints, achieving clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival in patients previously treated with KRAS G12C-mutant advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
In geopolitical news, the US and Iran wrapped up indirect talks in Doha. Qatar's foreign ministry described the discussions as showing "positive progress" and said further negotiations would resume after the state funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.