Swiss stock market hits record high as the SMI proves "unstoppable"

The Swiss stock market kicked off the week strong, closing “significantly higher” on Monday, July 27, as the Swiss Market Index (SMI) hit a new record high.

SMI sets new records on the SIX Swiss Exchange

The SMI, traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (Die Schweizer Börse), climbed 0,7 percent on Monday, closing at 14.421 points. Earlier in the afternoon, the index hit a record high of 14.472 points, according to Watson.

The Swiss blue-chip stocks that gained the most in the Swiss market included chemical supplier Sika (3,5 percent), building solutions Amrize (1,6 percent) and pharmaceutical companies Roche (1,4 percent) and Novartis (1,3 percent). Transport and logistics company Kühne+Nagel dropped 1,4 percent. 

The German DAX and French CAC 40 also performed well on Monday. The gains were “fueled by signs of easing tensions in the Middle East”, after the two sides halted recent attacks. 

Swiss market bounces back from geopolitical turbulence

The Swiss stock market, known by expat investors as a defensive market with large stocks in healthcare and consumer products, dropped when the US-Iran war broke out in February this year, with the SMI sinking below 12.400 points. 

Now, however, the Swiss economy is recovering, and the market is “unstoppable”, writes Blick, as it “rac[es] from one record high to the next”. Within the first six months of the year, the SMI gained 7 percent and outperformed markets like the US benchmark index and the German DAX. Vontobel analyst Arben Hasanaj believes that the gains were “largely driven by companies profiting from AI”. 

Swiss tech company ABB, for example, has seen a 43 percent gain since the beginning of 2026, largely due to a “strong demand for new data centres,” according to Mathieu Racheter, Head of Equity Strategy at Julius Baer. 

Looking ahead, Racheter thinks that while the outlook for investing in Switzerland is generally optimistic, the Swiss market won’t “outperform the fastest-growing international markets”.

"A general risk for the stock market is that the inflation wave will be larger than expected. This would then force central banks to raise interest rates – a bad scenario for stocks," warned Hasanaj.