Swiss Stocks Slide On Novartis Experimental Drug Setback

The Swiss stock market experienced significant downward pressure on Tuesday, spending almost the entire trading session in negative territory. The benchmark Swiss Market Index (SMI) tumbled by 221.77 points, or 1.55%, to finish at 14,057.61, after briefly touching an intraday high of 14,342.71 shortly after the opening bell and hitting a low of 14,035.88. The market downturn was predominantly triggered by heavy selling pressure in pharmaceutical heavyweight Novartis, whose shares plunged nearly 11% with trading volume exceeding 10.4 million shares. The sharp decline followed an announcement that its experimental candidate for a muscle-wasting disorder failed a late-stage clinical trial, representing the drugmaker's second major trial setback within days. Additional losses across Amrize, Alcon, Swiss Re, and Logitech further weighed on the headline index. Conversely, several defensive and industrial shares showed resilience, preventing deeper overall index losses. Notable gainers included Galderma Group, ABB, Swisscom, Lindt & Spruengli, and Nestle, which posted gains between 2% and 2.75%, alongside financial firms UBS Group and Julius Baer.