Swiss stocks slipped at the end of Tuesday's trading, with the Swiss Market Index closing 0.40% lower, amid another quiet day of economic news locally and fading optimism over a potential US-Iran peace deal.
US President Donald Trump responded to Iran's call for compensation and an end to sanctions with his own demands that Tehran pay "for the damage they've done over a 50-year period," including reparations for the deaths of US forces and civilian demonstrators. Iran earlier said it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless Washington meets its conditions.
Back home, the Swiss government intends to maintain Switzerland's neutrality in its current form, which Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis said has proven its worth. The statement comes ahead of a Sept. 27 referendum to vote on an initiative calling for a more restrictive concept of neutrality.
On the corporate side, Alcon (ALC.SW) saw its shares gain 4.70% at closing as it delivered a 9% annual jump in first-half net sales to $5.47 billion, supported by growth in both its surgical and vision care segments. Operating and net income, on the other hand, fell over the period, weighed down by a pretax, non-cash net charge of $402 million related to the discontinuation of the PowerVision programs.
"The company raised core operating margin guidance to +90-190bps CER (prev. +70-170bps) and core EPS growth to +12-15% CER (prev. +10-13%), while maintaining revenue growth of +5-7% CER. The tariff assumption was updated to a net impact of $40-90m (prev. $100-150m), including a $60m anticipated US government refund in Q3, of which c.two-thirds will be reinvested," RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note. "The share count assumption moved to 488m (prev. 492m), reflecting the buyback programme which is running at a faster pace than the three-year headline suggests ($295m repurchased in Q2 alone, $1.2bn remaining after one quarter of execution). There is potential further upside to FY guidance given H1 momentum, particularly in Equipment and Ocular Health, in our view."
Tecan Group (TECN.SW) reported a decline in sales to 427.5 million francs in the first half from the year-ago 439.5 million francs, while reported net profit dropped 31.5% over the period to 12.3 million francs. The results were impacted by higher costs related to certain non-recurring investments and the Swiss laboratory automation company's "Rewired" transformation program, including restructuring expenses. The stock concluded the session 10.30% lower.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Parliament's Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the upper house postponed its Tuesday vote on proposed amendments to Switzerland's capital rules, including changes related to the amount of extra capital UBS Group (UBSG.SW) would be required to hold. A parliament spokesperson toldthat the committee will resume deliberations on the matter at its Aug. 31 meeting. UBS shares were down 0.41%.