The blue-chip Swiss Market Index welcomed the new trading week in positive territory, closing 0.18% higher on Monday, amid a busy week of economy-related data releases at home and across other key global economies.
The annual inflation rate in Switzerland ticked down to 0.4% in July from 0.5% in the previous month, government data showed. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were 0.1% lower, compared with the prior month's zero growth.
"The 0.1% decrease compared with the previous month is due to several factors including lower prices for air transport, diesel and petrol. Prices also decreased for clothing and footwear, due to seasonal sales. In contrast, other parahotel accommodation and heating oil recorded a price increase, as did car rental and car sharing," the Federal Statistical Office said.
Meanwhile, the country's manufacturing PMI declined to 53.2 in July from 54.3 in June amid increased concerns related to trade barriers, according to data from procure.ch and UBS.
On the labor market front, the KOF employment indicator climbed to 2.1 points in the third quarter from the downwardly revised 1.6 points in the prior quarter, slightly higher than its long-term average of 1.7 points.
"This improvement is being driven by more encouraging employment forecasts for the next three months, whilst companies are assessing their current employment levels with slightly greater caution than in the last quarter," the KOF Swiss Economic Institute said. "The indicator's two components are moving in opposite directions. On balance, the assessment of current employment levels has fallen from 1.9 points to 1.7, whilst forecasts have risen from 1.2 points to 2.5. Consequently, the proportion of firms planning to create additional jobs in the near future again more clearly outnumbers those intending to cut jobs."
In corporate news, Sandoz Group (SDZ.SW) entered into a settlement agreement totaling $450 million to resolve all remaining claims in the US related to allegations of anti-competitive conduct in the generic medicines market. Separately, the Swiss generic drugmaker also agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle an indirect reseller class action in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, noting that the settlement agreements contain no admission of wrongdoing by the company. The stock was down 2.68% at closing.
On the flip side, Landis+Gyr Group (LAND.SW) gained 3.61% as it announced a fixed-price offer to repurchase up to 1 million registered shares at 50 francs each, with the 50 million-franc offer set to run from Tuesday until Aug. 18. The energy technology company also terminated its 2025-2028 share buyback program with immediate effect, under which it repurchased 1,264,957 registered shares for a total value of 61.9 million francs. A new buyback program will be initiated after the fixed-price offer is completed.