Shares Gain as Swiss Trade Surplus Bounces Back

11:50 AM EST, 12/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Swiss Market Index closed Thursday 0.83% in the green as investors turned their attention to major interest rate decisions in Europe. The European Central Bank decided to hold steady while the Bank of England slashed rates by 25 basis points. "Although the Bank of England (BoE) reduced its policy rate from 4.00% to 3.75% today as investors anticipated, the recent deterioration in the economic data did not alter its overarching narrative," Berenberg said in a note. "If our forecast that mounting job losses will ensure pay growth trends down throughout 2026, the BoE will turn more dovish soon. We expect 75bps of further easing to 3.00% by Q3 next year." For the ECB, meanwhile, President Christine Lagarde confirmed policymakers' "data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach," as expected, while Danske Bank confirmed their expectations of no more rate cuts through 2026 and 2027. Back home, seasonally adjusted exports were up 1.6% in November while imports fell 0.8%. After three straight months of declines, the Swiss trade surplus bounced back and surpassed the 3 billion-franc mark, according to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security. Meanwhile, the Swiss construction price index increased 0.3% between April and October, while trade data showed a 7.3% drop in Swiss watch exports in November. On the banking side, the Swiss Competition Commission on Thursday closed a wide-ranging investigation into the financial market. Over 10 years and nine separate proceedings involving 20 banks, the regulator closed seven of them and imposed 237.5 million francs in fines. In company news, Roche (ROG.SW) and Novartis (NOVN.SW) ended the trading session 0.76% higher and 0.20% lower, respectively. The Swiss companies were among the pharmaceutical companies reported by media that are planning to announce drug pricing deals in the US. Novartis told MT Newswires that US discussions are ongoing for "construction solutions that lower [medicine] costs" and address pricing disparities. Roche is yet to respond to a request for comment.