7 April: US tariffs continue to smother Swiss stock market.

On 7 April, the Swiss stock market fell by more than 5 percent for the second trading day in a row.

The uncertainties surrounding the US tariffs caused a continuation of the sell-off on the leading SMI index.

This affected all sectors, even companies without trade with the USA lost value, in some cases significantly.

Rumors that US President Donald Trump could postpone the tariffs for 90 days and that legal action would be taken against the tariffs were the main cause of heavy movement in the afternoon. The White House at least immediately denied the postponement. Driven by the rumors, the SMI briefly shot up along with the US markets, only to fall back to its starting level almost immediately.

The markets were also unsettled by Trump's announcement that he would increase tariffs against China by a further 50% from April 9, if China did not withdraw its counter-tariffs. The tariff spiral between the two countries therefore appears to be accelerating.

Also, the EU announced that it was ready to negotiate with the US government. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held out the prospect of a free trade agreement with the USA for industrial goods. At their meeting today, the EU trade ministers also agreed that retaliatory tariffs already planned would be put into effect.

The Swiss Market Index (SMI) lost 5.2 percent to 11,047 points on Monday. The Swiss benchmark index reached its low for the day shortly after the opening at 10,776 points and shot up to 11,554 points - a range of almost 800 points - on the rumors of the tariff postponement.

Pharmaceutical heavyweights Roche GS (-6.0%) and Novartis (-5.3%) suffered very heavy losses in Switzerland. Nestlé (-4.3%) performed comparatively better on Friday and Monday, but also fell significantly.

Other European stock markets presented a similar picture to Switzerland: the German Dax (-4.3%), the French Cac 40 (-4.8%) and the British FTSE 100 (-4.4%) also closed significantly lower. The Asian stock markets had already recorded heavy losses, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng even plummeting by 12%.

However, looking at the long-term we are studying the situation as we believe there is a potential for a promising buyers’ market.