The Swiss stock market opened slightly in positive territory Wednesday, with the SMI trading 0.1% higher at the pre-open phase, according to Julius Bär, reversing earlier guidance from IG Bank that had put the index 0.26% lower. Every constituent of the 20-stock index traded in the green. The SMI had gained 0.75% on Monday.
Semiconductor names led the recovery, with AMS Osram trading 2% higher pre-market after losing 11% on Monday. The Austrian chipmaker is listed on the Swiss exchange. Shares of SMG were also in focus. The Mobiliar reduced its stake in the online classified-platform operator from 11.8% to 11.8%, while TX Group increased its holding to 34.9% from 31.4%. No pre-market price was available for SMG.
Broader headwinds persisted across global markets. Asian equities came under pressure from Middle East tensions and rising oil prices after Houthi rebels launched a new attack on Saudi Arabia, fuelling concerns over potential oil supply disruptions. Investors also held back ahead of closely watched interest-rate decisions in the United States and Japan, while debates over the pace of artificial-intelligence development weighed on sentiment.
The MSCI Index for Asia ex-Japan edged lower, while Tokyo's benchmark rose 0.9% and Shanghai posted a slight gain. Dolar strengthened 0.3% to 154.87 yen and 0.15% to 0.8190 Swiss francs in Asian trading. The euro remained flat at 1.1536 dollars and rose to 0.9437 francs.
On the commodity market, North Sea Brent crude rose 1.6% to $107.40 a barrel, while US WTI crude gained 1.7% to $103.15 a barrel. Gold gave up ground, falling to $4,291.59 an ounce.
US markets on Monday had found some support from a moderate easing in oil prices, though technology shares remained under pressure. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.82% to 29,127.16 points, weighed down by security concerns around AI. The S&P 500 pared losses to a 0.48% decline at 7,619.98 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.29% to 52,421.20 points.
Dario Amodei, chief of AI firm Anthropic, warned that a swarm of AI systems could potentially take over the entire internet within six to twelve months, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage, and called for a slowdown in the development of the most powerful models. In response, cyber-security stocks rose sharply — CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks and Okta gained between 12% and 14%.
Timothy Arcuri of UBS described AI regulation risks as a "new, significant risk factor" clouding the outlook for chipmakers, though he expressed doubt that there would be a fundamental slowdown in momentum, noting that major AI labs had recently committed to substantial infrastructure investment. He said meeting expectations would require a "particularly positive scenario for infrastructure build-out."
