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Swiss Market Index Closes Week in Red; Holcim Shares Down

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The blue-chip Swiss Market Index remained in the red, concluding the week 0.32% lower on Friday's close, as the earnings season continued and markets took stock of the latest economic data prints.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed that seasonally adjusted retail sales in Switzerland rose 0.2% month over month in real terms in June, following a revised 0.9% rise in May.

Zooming out to the euro area, the annual inflation rate ticked up to 2.9% in July from 2.8% in June, while the annual core inflation rate rose to 2.5% from 2.4%, according to Eurostat's flash data.

"Because July started while the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was still in place, the effect on this month's inflation figures was relatively modest, but August inflation will be significantly higher if oil prices remain around their current levels. While energy inflation is on the move again, the question remains when second round effects will show up in core inflation data," ING said in a note. "So, while the data for July was quite benign, there is still plenty of scope for a further increase in inflation. Especially since the Middle East war remains very unpredictable. The [European Central Bank] remains on high alert and is likely to raise rates in September again under current conditions."

Over to corporates, building materials group Holcim (HOLN.SW), specialty chemicals company Clariant (CLN.SW), orthopedic products company Medacta Group (MOVE.SW) and the Swiss National Bank (SNBN.SW) were among Switzerland-listed companies that published financial results.

Holcim delivered a 5.5% year-over-year increase in net sales to 4.41 billion francs in the second quarter, while recurring EBIT grew to 1.01 billion francs from 955 million francs, leading the group to raise its guidance for full-year 2026. The stock closed the trading session down 2.76%.

"Holcim delivered a robust Q2, with recurring EBIT of CHF1,007m coming in 5.1% ahead of company-compiled consensus of CHF958m (3.7% beat ex corp/eliminations), with beats across all three regions. The performance was underpinned by strong organic growth of +6.4% in net sales and +13.1% in recurring EBIT, driven by strict cost discipline, sustainable product penetration, and accelerating demand in Europe and Asia, Middle East & Africa," said analysts at RBC Capital Markets. "Management upgraded FY2026 guidance to ~5% organic net sales growth and ~10% organic recurring EBIT growth (from 3-5% and 8-10% respectively, vs VA cons. of 4.0% and 9.4%), the first upgrade since the NextGen Growth 2030 strategy was launched."

Meanwhile, the Swiss National Bank's shares gained 3.39% as the central bank booked an interim result of 25.17 billion francs in the first half, compared with a year-ago loss of 15.30 billion francs.

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