Swiss Market Index Holds Gains; Richemont Reportedly in Talks to Join Consortium Bidding for De Beers

11:51 AM EDT, 10/15/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Swiss equities extended their gains on Thursday, with the Swiss Market Index closing 1.55% higher as investors digested the latest economic data prints and corporate financial updates. Switzerland's producer and import price index rose by 0.3% month over month in September and declined by 0.2% on an annual basis to 100.7 points, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office. Zooming out to the UK, the country's monthly gross domestic product grew 0.1% in August, following a 0.4% rise in July, government data showed. The latest reading beat market forecasts of a 0.1% contraction. On the corporate front, Cartier-owner Compagnie Financière Richemont (CFR.SW) gained 0.72% at closing amid chatter that the Swiss luxury goods group is in advanced talks to join the Global Diamond Consortium, which is reportedly the preferred bidder to purchase the De Beers diamond business from mining giant Anglo American, according to Bloomberg News. Sources told the news outlet that US retailer Signet Jewelers is also in talks to join the consortium. "We view Richemont's potential participation as strategically meaningful but more about optics and long-term natural diamond category positioning than a financial event. Richemont's stake would likely be relatively small given the number of existing and prospective owners, and given its strong net cash position of EUR8.5bn (ex leases) we do not envisage a meaningful financial impact - also noting De Beers' carrying value on Anglo's balance sheet is $2.3bn (post multiple impairments in recent years)," analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a quick take note. "The key risk of this potential move is that the investment becomes a money pit: De Beers lost $511m in FY25, with additional potential costs related to the Jwaneng life-of-mine extension and required natural diamond category investment ahead." DocMorris (DOCM.SW) raised its external revenue growth guidance for full-year 2026 to between 12.5% and 15% from 9% to 13% previously and reaffirmed its financial targets over the medium term. For the third quarter, the Switzerland-based online pharmacy's revenue climbed year over year to 327.4 million francs from 268.1 million francs, while its external revenue surged 21.4% to 342.7 million francs. "Thanks to the strong performance of Rx and Digital Services, as well as further improvements in cost and marketing efficiency, we already achieved our targeted EBITDA breakeven in the third quarter with adjusted EBITDA of CHF 0.6 million. Against this backdrop, we are once again raising our revenue and EBITDA guidance for the full year," Chief Financial Officer Daniel Wüest said. The stock was up 3.55% at the end of the trading day.