On Friday, the Swiss market closed slightly lower after fluctuating within a narrow range throughout the session. Although the market briefly climbed above the neutral line several times, it struggled to maintain its upward momentum, partly due to data indicating a rise in the country's unemployment rate.
Positive U.S. employment figures helped mitigate the market's decline.
The benchmark SMI index, oscillating within a tight range, concluded the day with a minor dip of 15.23 points, or 0.13%, settling at 11,997.09. During the trading session, the index hit a low of 11,958.56 and a high of 12,030.88.
Among the decliners, SGS fell by 1.76% and Givaudan by 1.58%. Other notable losses included Lonza Group, Geberit, Alcon, and Roche Holding, decreasing between 1% and 1.39%.
Sika, Schindler Ps, VAT Group, Swisscom, and Nestlé posted modest declines.
Conversely, Swatch Group saw a notable increase of approximately 2.75%. SIG Group and Sandos Group experienced gains of nearly 2% and 1.69%, respectively. Zurich Insurance, Julius Baer, Holcim, UBS Group, Lindt & Sprüngli, Swiss Re, Straumann Holding, and Kuehne + Nagel recorded gains ranging from 0.6% to 1%.
According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland's unemployment rate edged up to an unadjusted 2.5% in September, exceeding both market expectations and August's figure of 2.4%. After adjusting for seasonal variations, the unemployment rate was 2.6% in September.
The youth unemployment rate, which measures job-seekers aged 15 to 24, remained stable at 2.7% during September.