Swiss Market Index Begins Week in Green; Nestlé Shares Edge Down

11:49 AM EDT, 10/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The blue-chip Swiss Market Index welcomed the new trading week on a positive note, closing 0.31% higher on Monday, as investors took stock of the latest business survey releases across key economies amid a quiet day of local economic news. Nestlé's (NESN.SW) low-fat dairy whitener was declared "unsafe" and "substandard" by India's Food Safety and Standards Authority, after a sample collected from The Lalit hotel in New Delhi was found to be non-compliant with food safety regulations, according to a notice posted by the regulator on social media platform X. Nestlé and the Food Safety and Standards Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires. At closing, the Swiss consumer goods giant's shares were down 0.40%. Meanwhile, BofA Global Research reiterated its buy rating on Novartis (NOVN.SW), with a price objective of 150 francs, amid expectations that the Swiss drugmaker will report a 3% year-over-year growth in sales to $14.3 billion in the third quarter, noting that the company's key growth drivers continue to be strong. The stock closed the trading session 0.12% in the green. "Although management flagged at 2Q that 2H margins are typically lower than 1H, we still see upside to FY26 guidance if strong 2Q margin continues in 2H. We see EBIT guide shift from low-single digit decline to include flat as possible, reflected in our FY26E EBIT of flat YoY growth, with Fx +1%, (with our forecast c1% above cons)," the research firm said. "We see a catalyst path that remains supportive of NVS, though stock is lower in our rank order given not yet enough visibility on pipeline to see growth through the patent cliff (Cosentyx 29E, Kisqali & Kesimpta 31E). We still forecast a 30-33E sales CAGR of -c4% vs cons -c3%, despite now including $8bn risk-adj. peak for remi." On the geopolitical front, the Swiss Federal Council recommended that Swiss citizens vote in favor of a value-added tax increase to 8.5% from 8.1% for the supplementary financing for the 13th payment of the Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance pension. A referendum on the matter is set to take place Nov. 29. Outside Switzerland and in other news, the S&P Global Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index rose to 53.1 in September from 52 in the previous month. The seasonally adjusted final reading marks the index's highest in nearly three-and-a-half years.