12:05 PM EDT, 04/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Swiss equities slipped back into negative territory, with the Swiss Market Index down 0.59% on Friday's close, as investors digest a slew of corporate releases and trading updates.

Buildings materials company Holcim (HOLN.SW), logistics group Kuehne+Nagel (KNIN.SW), instrumentation company Inficon (IFCN.SW), and contract development and manufacturing organization Siegfried Holding (SFZN.SW) were among Switzerland-listed companies that reported financial results.

Kuehne+Nagel reported a year-over-year drop in first-quarter earnings to 248 million francs from 303 million francs, while net turnover fell to 5.60 billion francs from 6.33 billion francs. The results were impacted by cost-saving measures and sea logistics disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East. The stock was down 4.30% at the end of the trading day.

Meanwhile, Novartis (NOVN.SW) secured a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the approval of Itvisma for treating 5q spinal muscular atrophy in patients aged two and above.

The Swiss drugmaker also withdrew its EMA type 2 variation application for Pluvicto to expand the indication to include treating adults with prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in pre-chemotherapy following the committee's feedback. Novartis shares closed 4.30% lower.

On the macroeconomic front, Swiss National Bank (SNBN.SW) Governing Board Chairman Martin Schlegel expects Swiss economic growth to be "rather subdued"in the short term before seeing an upturn over the medium term "to some extent"amid "significantly"increased uncertainty arising from the Middle East conflict. In terms of inflation, the SNB forecasts it will further increase in the coming quarters, mainly driven by higher energy prices.