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"Volatility on the markets is enormously high"
- Christian Schmidt, a technical analyst for equities at Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen
Swiss stocks lost ground on Thursday amid higher borrowing costs for Spain and France. The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, lost 0.72%, or 41.18 points, to 5,644.62. The broader Swiss Performance Index declined 0.74%, or 38.24 points, to 5,122.25.
"Volatility on the markets is enormously high," said Thursday Christian Schmidt, a technical analyst for equities at Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen in Frankfurt. "The situation remains fragile as the interest in European government bonds seems to be decreasing. With declines in sales activity and as the market gradually seems to be drying up, various sale intentions are already enough to put massive pressure on prices."
Swiss economic expectations index slid to -64.3 in November from -54.4 the previous month, said the Centre for European Economic Research. Index is based on a survey of institutional investors, who are asked to rate the country's 6 month economic outlook.