Switzerland

Clariant was one of four companies that received a claim for damages of approximately 1 billion euros ($1.14billion) from Austrian Energy Company OMV, the company said on Tuesday. The claim is related to alleged violations of competition law on the market of ethylene purchases. The Swiss chemicals company clariant said: "Clariant rejects this allegation firmly and will vigorously defend its case in any proceedings." OMV confirmed that it filed a lawsuit against Clariant, but stated it couldn't comment on the ongoing legal proceedings. Clariant didn't name any of the other companies. OMV also did not name them. Clariant stated that...

The head of metals research at Mercuria said that the trading house expects a 700,000-metric-ton copper concentrate deficit and a 300,000-metric ton deficit for refined metal this year, which could drive prices up to new records. Nicholas Snowdon, the high-profile bull of Mercuria in Geneva, expects copper prices to reach record levels sooner rather than later. Snowdon said at the LME Asia Week Conference in Hong Kong that the copper market is in a vulnerable state. It's not a matter of if but when this market will move into a scarcity state. This could happen as early as the second...

European shares recovered from an early drop to close higher Thursday. Industrial stocks got the biggest boost while corporate earnings were in the spotlight. The STOXX 600 index for the continent was up by 0.6%. The majority of major regional indexes rose, with Germany up 0.7%. Russian President Vladimir Putin snubbed challenge To meet face-toface with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Turkey is to deal a serious blow to the prospects of a breakthrough for peace. Hensoldt, Rheinmetall and Leonardo all saw gains of 4% or more. The European aerospace and defence index rose 2.3%. Chris Beauchamp is the chief...

The main British indexes rose along with global markets on Monday after the United States agreed to temporarily lower tariffs. This eased investor concerns over the trade war between two of the world's largest economies. By 1021 GMT the blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.35% while the domestically focused Midcap Index advanced 1%. After talks in Geneva, both countries announced that the U.S. would reduce its extra tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% and Chinese duties will drop to 10%. The new measures will be in effect for 90 days. The Geneva meetings marked the first face...

British stocks rose Wednesday, as investors considered mixed corporate results. The main indexes are poised to end a volatile, but largely positive, month. They have almost recovered from the losses caused by U.S. Trade policies. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.1% as of 1009 GMT and is on course for its 13th consecutive session with a positive result. The midcap index, which is primarily focused on domestic companies, advanced by 0.7% to reach its sixth consecutive session of gains. Despite recovering from the steep tariffs announced in early this month, FTSE 100 is still poised to report a...

Trafigura’s top executive for Mongolia has been suspended pending an investigation into a fraud scheme worth billions of dollars at the Swiss trading firm. The executive, however, lent more than $500 million from Trafigura to a company owned by his aunt. Lex Oil is Trafigura’s main counterparty in Mongolia. According to three sources and a document, it belonged to Erdenetuul who is the aunt of Trafigura’s suspended local boss Jononbayar Erdenesuren. Trafigura announced last October it had suffered a loss of $1.1 billion after an internal investigation found that employees within its Mongolian petroleum product supply business engaged "serious misconduct"....

The UK's FTSE 100 ended flat on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision that would be made later in the day. Energy stocks also helped to keep declines at bay. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was barely changed while the domestically focused FTSE 250 Index edged up 0.1%. The energy sector led the gains in all sectors, boosted by rising oil prices and hopes for a rise in U.S. demand and a limited ceasefire between Ukraine & Russia. . The Fed's decision to change its policy will be the highlight of a...

The United Nations Environment Programme announced on Monday that a new round will be held in Geneva from 5-14 August to negotiate a global treaty on plastics. This follows the failure of countries to reach an agreement on parameters for a final deal in December last year in Busan, South Korea. The final meeting of the U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, INC-5 in Busan, was supposed to be the last one. However the countries remained divided on the scope of a global treaty. They could only agree to defer key decisions until the next session which will be called INC 5.2....

Here are the key factors that could affect Swiss stocks Thursday: CLARIANT AG TotalEnergie has been accused of violating the 2020 Competition Law. The company says it denies these allegations. MEYER BURGER TECHNOLOGY AGR The bondholders have approved the changes to the convertible bonds that mature in 2027 or 2029, to inject new capital into business. FEINTOOL HOLDINGS AG The company did not provide any guidance for the year 2025. It cited continued low visibility in Europe. KUDELSKI - The company plans to eliminate 160 jobs as part of its restructuring in 2025. BUSINESS STATEMENTS SULZER AG: The company reported...

On Thursday, a top Swiss court found that a former Gunvor employee had corrupted officials in the Republic of Congo for oil contracts. This is the first time that a corruption case in Switzerland's commodities trading industry, worth $80 billion, has been brought to court. This follows the conviction of Trafigura, a rival trading firm, and a former executive in a corruption case involving Angolan Oil Deals last month. The Swiss Federal Criminal Court released a statement on Thursday that the ruling concerned bribes worth over $35 million, intended at least in part for Congolese officials, over an 18-month period...

The Financial Times reported that the global oil demand will remain stable until at least 2040. The report cited the long-term outlook of the company, which was seen by the newspaper. Vitol didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. In the report, the company stated that despite efforts made to reduce carbon emissions through the transition to cleaner fuels by switching to cleaner fuels and growing populations, oil demand would continue to grow. The report stated that Vitol, which is the largest independent oil trader in the world, expects the global oil demand to drop by 4.5 millions bpd...

S witzerland’s top criminal court found Trafigura, a former executive and a company guilty of corruption on Friday in a case involving the payment made to an Angolan government official in exchange for oil contract. The court ordered that the trading house pay $148 million as fines and compensation, and sentenced Mike Wainwright, a former employee of itss to 32 months imprisonment. Of this time 12 months must be served. You can appeal the decision to the same court. This is the first case in Switzerland where a company was charged with corruption of an official from abroad. It's also...

Gold prices fell more than 2% Friday, and are heading towards their worst six-month period in recent memory. An overall stronger dollar and an interim U.S. China trade agreement have weakened investor demand for this safe-haven. As of 1136 GMT, spot gold was down by 1.9% at $3,178.06 per ounce. Bullion is down more than 4% this week, and it's on track to have its worst performance weekly since November 2024. U.S. Gold Futures dropped 1.4% to $3.180.90. Nitesh Sha, commodities strategist for WisdomTree, said: "We have had a week of positive signals regarding trade negotiations, and we've seen the...

Gold prices fell on Friday, and were set to experience their biggest weekly drop in six months as a stronger US dollar and diminishing trade war fears dampened its appeal. As of 0222 GMT, spot gold was down 0.5% at $3,223.06 per ounce. Bullion is down about 3% this week, and it's on track to have its worst performance weekly since November 2024. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.1% to $3.224.90. Gold priced in greenbacks is now more expensive to overseas buyers due to the dollar's 0.3% gain for the past week. Ilya Spirak, global macro head at Tastylive, said that...

Ferrexpo, a Ukrainian miner with a focus on Ukraine, said that the Commercial Court of Poltava accepted a request to open bankruptcy proceedings of Ferrexpo Poltava Mining. Ferrexpo shares dropped 6.6% to 65p after the announcement. The company stated that while the application was accepted, formal bankruptcy proceedings have not yet been initiated against the unit. The court has set a preliminary court hearing on May 27 to consider the bankruptcy petition. Ferrexpo has been involved in legal disputes with Ukraine since 2022 when its controlling shareholder Ukrainian billionaire Kostiantyn Zhevago was arrested for embezzlement charges and his involvement in...

Holcim's shareholders approved Wednesday the separation and spin-off of its North American business, a move designed to take advantage of increased construction spending in the United States. Almost all shareholders supported the decision to separate the company into two companies, Amrize and Holcim, which will focus on North America. Holcim will provide building materials for the remainder of the world. The spin-off should be complete by the end June. The listing will be done via a 100% share spin-off for Holcim's shareholders. The new company stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and also on the Six Swiss...

The gold price fell on Wednesday, as the de-escalation of U.S. China trade tensions dampened safe-haven demand. Meanwhile, markets waited for another set inflation data in order to gauge the Federal Reserve’s policy direction. As of 0231 GMT, spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,234.32. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.3% to $3237.00. Kyle Rodda, Capital.com financial analyst and expert on the gold market, said that positive developments in US trade policies are reducing the appeal of the metal in the short term. "I believe that if there is continued progress made in the trade negotiations and agreements between the US,...

The latest earnings estimates showed that the outlook for European corporate health is improving. According to data from LSEG, European companies will report an average increase of 1.9% for their first quarter earnings. This is better than the 0.4% analysts had predicted a week earlier. This improvement comes after 59.6% STOXX600 companies have already exceeded analyst expectations in the first quarter. LSEG data shows that at the time of Donald Trump's inauguration, in January, forecasts called for a 3.5% rise in earnings for the first quarter. However, this was reversed following Trump's announcements on tariffs in April, with expectations of...

The gold price rose on Tuesday, as bargain hunters sought to make up for a steep loss the day before. Inflation data from the U.S. that were lower than expected also helped. Gold spot rose by 0.2%, to $3,241.16 per ounce, as of 13:38 GMT (938 ET), after dropping as low as $3207.30 an ounce on Monday. U.S. Gold Futures rose 0.6% to $3,245.50. Bart Melek said that the news of a possible deal between the U.S.A. and China caused a large correction in the gold price on Monday. "However, tariffs on China are still 30% which is quite negative...

The gold price on Tuesday was hovering around a low of more than a week, which had been hit the previous session. A U.S. China agreement to temporarily halt tariffs reciprocally boosted risk appetite and diminished gold's appeal as a safe haven. As of 0309 GMT, spot gold remained unchanged at $3,230.99 per ounce. Bullion prices fell by 2.7% in the previous session. U.S. Gold Futures rose 0.2% to $3.235.20. After two days in Geneva of negotiations, the U.S. announced that it would reduce its tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% down to 30%, and China's duties on U.S. imported...

HESTA, an Australian pension fund, announced on Monday that it sold the remaining stake in Mineral Resources founded by billionaire Chris Ellison. The reason given was "serious concerns" about governance. The mining services provider is grappling with governance problems, mostly involving Ellison. Allegations include tax evasion, and misusing company resources for personal purposes. HESTA confirmed in an email sent to that it has divested its Mineral Resources stake for approximately A$14 Million ($8.99 millions). HESTA stated that concerns regarding the company's management were not addressed as quickly as they should have been despite the repeated engagement of the board. The...

Cobalt Holdings announced on Monday that it intends to raise $230,000,000 through a global offering and possibly list its shares at the London Stock Exchange. The company wants to give investors pure-play exposure in cobalt prices. The company has a contract to purchase cobalt worth $200 million from Glencore, the world's largest miner. It plans to use proceeds from its equity raising to complete the purchase of this metal, which is a key component of electric vehicle batteries. Glencore and Anchorage Structured Commodities Advisor, an investment firm, have agreed to invest approximately 20.5% in the shares being offered. A six-year...

Gold prices fell Friday, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced that the United States and UK had reached a free trade agreement. This lowered gold's appeal as a safe haven, while the focus shifted towards U.S. China talks at this weekend. As of 0217 GMT, spot gold dropped 0.8% to $3277.67 per ounce. U.S. Gold Futures fell 0.7% to $3282.80. Trump and British Premier Keir starmer announced "a breakthrough deal". The 10% tariff on UK goods will remain in place. Britain has agreed to reduce its tariffs from 5.1% to 1.8% and allow greater access to U.S. products. Kyle Rodda,...

Heidelberg Materials, the second largest cement manufacturer in the world, reported sales and profits that exceeded expectations for its first quarter. The company also confirmed its outlook citing strong growth across Africa. The first-quarter results from current operations of the company rose 1.3%, to 235 millions euros ($266million), exceeding the average polled forecast by the group. Dominik Von Achten, CEO of the company, said that despite the political and economic uncertainty as well as the difficult weather conditions in certain regions, the 2025 financial period started off very positively. Holcim, a larger competitor, cited a strong North African business as...