🥱 Crisis at 0.8%

• 🇬🇧 Diplomacy. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is considering a return of the United Kingdom to the European Union following the next general election, judging that Brexit has harmed the country more than benefited it.
• 🇨🇭 Innovation. Switzerland retains the title of world's most innovative country for the 16th consecutive year, ahead of Sweden and the United States, according to the UN.
• 🇨🇭 Policy. Guy Parmelin will leave the Federal Council at the end of December, after 11 years in government, to make way for a new generation.
• 🇪🇺 Diplomacy. The European Commission proposes gradual EU accession for Ukraine, Moldova and the Balkans, with anticipated access to the single market subject to reform conditions.
• 🇧🇷 Elections. Flávio Bolsonaro topped the first round with 47% of the vote, ahead of Lula at 45%, and will face the incumbent president in the second round on 25 October.
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland. Fully electric cars accounted for 35.7% of automobile sales in September, a record, whilst BYD has increased its registrations ninefold in one year.

Economy & Finance

• 🇨🇭 Inflation. Swiss inflation reaches 1% year-on-year in September, driven by a 31.2% rise in oil prices, whilst underlying inflation remains limited to 0.5%.
• 🇫🇷 Inflation. The rise in prices in France is accelerating to 3% year-on-year in September, compared with 2.4% in August, according to the provisional estimate from INSEE.
• 🇨🇭 Growth. The KOF has significantly raised its growth forecast for Switzerland in 2026 to 1.9% compared to 0.8% anticipated last summer, despite trade tensions and rising energy costs.
• 🇨🇳 Growth. Chinese manufacturing activity returns to expansion territory in September, with a PMI index at 50.1 versus 49.8 in August, following two months of contraction.
• 🇨🇭 Deficit. The SNB will be able to pay up to 6bn CHF per year to the Confederation and cantons between 2026 and 2030, depending on its financial health.
• 🇫🇷 Deficit. France raised nearly €12bn in long-term debt, with a rate of 4.93% on the 2036 maturity, compared with 4.23% a month earlier.
• 🇬🇧 Deficit. Yields on British government bonds are reaching levels comparable to those of Italy at the height of the eurozone crisis, a sign of mounting tensions over public debt.
• 🇺🇦 Deficit. Ukraine must find €23bn by the end of October to finance its civil and military needs, whilst the war costs €165m per day.
• 🌍 Commodities. The IEA has already released 325M barrels of oil since March, representing 80% of the 400M pledged by its 32 member countries to support supplies.
• 🇬🇧 Investment. British banks have provided $8.3bn in financing to the coal sector since COP26 in 2021, compared with $4.9bn for German banks and $3.4bn for French banks.
• 🇷🇺 Investment. Moscow places all Russian assets of German distributor Metro under temporary administration, entrusted to local company UK Torg Rus.
• 🇨🇭 Foreign exchange. The SNB purchased 1.4bn CHF of foreign currency in the second quarter to slow the franc's appreciation, a figure down from the 3.94bn CHF acquired in the previous quarter.
• 🇨🇭🇩🇪 Industry. Switzerland and Germany are strengthening their cooperation in artificial intelligence and robotics, with an agreement also covering training, research and innovation.
• 🇨🇭🇸🇬 Commodities. Trader Gunvor becomes Centalion and relocates its headquarters from Geneva and Cyprus to Singapore, whilst maintaining its principal trading hub in Geneva.

Switzerland

• 🇨🇭 Tax. Parliament maintains the reduced VAT rate of 3.8% for the hotel industry until 2031, despite initial opposition from the Federal Council.
• 🇨🇭 Budget. Geneva will pay 22.6m CHF to the Jura between 2027 and 2031 to compensate for financial losses linked to the transfer of Moutier.
• 🇨🇭 Immigration. The Senate approves a tax of at least 4,000 CHF per year for EU nationals living in Switzerland, and 2,000 CHF for adults who came through family reunification.
• 🇨🇭 Education. Switzerland wins 12 medals, including 4 gold, at the WorldSkills in Shanghai and finishes as the top European team, in the world's top 3.
• 🇨🇭 Solidarity. Old-age and invalidity pensions will increase from January 2027, with the minimum pension raised from 1,260 to 1,280 CHF per month.
• 🇨🇭 Mobility. SWISS will progressively equip its entire fleet with complimentary high-speed Starlink internet connectivity for passengers, with deployment to be completed by the end of 2029.
• 🇨🇭 Agriculture. New biosecurity rules apply to all Swiss pig farms to limit the risk of African swine fever, with access controls, hygiene barriers and enhanced monitoring.
• 🇨🇭 Agriculture. Florian Isler won the Swiss championship for the largest pumpkin for the third consecutive time, with a specimen weighing 651.5kg.
• 🇨🇭 Climate. Zurich has achieved one third of its greening objective in a year, which plans to transform 600,000 m² into green spaces or tree-planted areas by 2035.
• 🇨🇭 Climate. Swiss glaciers lost more than 5% of their mass in 2026, due to a poorly snowy winter and record summer heat waves.
• 🇨🇭 Culture. The Confederation is releasing nearly 2 million Swiss francs to finance 26 research projects on the provenance of cultural objects linked to colonial contexts, archaeological matters and Nazi looting.
• 🇨🇭 Sport. Kenyan Brian Kipchumba and Valaisanne Oria Liaci won the 92nd Morat-Fribourg on Sunday, contested over 17.170 km.
• 🇨🇭 Sport. Switzerland drops Gianni Infantino ahead of FIFA congress scheduled for March in Rabat, denouncing a lack of regulatory clarity and institutional accountability.
• 🇨🇭 Appointment. Todd Steggerda becomes the new United States ambassador to the UN in Geneva, nearly two years into Donald Trump's second term.

Elsewhere in the World

• 🇪🇸 Policy. Spain plans to suspend evictions until 2030 and impose automatic lease renewals, despite Pedro Sánchez's government lacking a parliamentary majority.
• 🇸🇪 Policy. Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson abandons government negotiations after her left-wing ally's support for a conservative candidate for the Parliament presidency.
• 🇷🇴 Policy. The Romanian Parliament has rejected for the second time the prime minister candidate proposed by President Nicusor Dan, prolonging the political crisis and raising fears of early elections.
• 🇱🇻 Elections. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs' United List wins the legislative election with 35.3% of the vote, a result that could allow for the formation of a two-party coalition.
• 🇧🇦 Elections. Milorad Dodik's party is expected to retain power in Republika Srpska, the Serb entity of Bosnia, despite a sharp drop in turnout to 42%.
• 🇲🇦 Government. Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri has been tasked with forming the Moroccan government by King Mohammed VI, a historic first for a woman in Morocco.
• 🇹🇷 Justice. Turkey's largest financial scandal of the decade affects the entourage of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with 131 funds seized, €17bn at stake and 455,000 savers locked out.
• 🇪🇬 Rights. Egyptian authorities have arrested six journalists from the independent investigative platform Matsda2sh, an unprecedented operation against an entire newsroom in the country.
• 🇲🇲 Conflict. A Burmese military air strike on a market in Kyauktaw, in Rakhine State, killed 33 people and wounded 36, according to the Arakan Army rebels.
• 🇮🇶 Defense. The last American troops have left Iraq, ending a military presence that was renewed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State.
• 🇨🇩 Security. A UDPS official was beaten to death, then his house set on fire, following a radio intervention dedicated to Ebola prevention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 🇷🇺 Diplomacy. Moscow will expel several Hungarian diplomats in retaliation for Hungary's removal of ten Russian diplomats last month.
• 🇫🇷 Protests. Classes will be wholly or partially suspended on Monday in 400 to 500 French secondary schools, following blockades marked by violence and 24 establishments damaged.
• 🇺🇸 Disasters. A near-summer heatwave is striking California, with temperatures close to 37°C in Los Angeles and an increased risk of wildfires.
• 🇨🇩 Health. The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has infected 8,067 people since May and caused 3,901 deaths, a toll that already makes it the second largest ever recorded.

• 🇨🇭 Banking. Artisan Partners, which holds approximately 1.8% of UBS, is urging the bank to leave Switzerland, which it deems less attractive due to expected tightening of capital requirements.
• 🇨🇭 Retail. Nespresso is discontinuing its paper-based compostable coffee capsules, which were launched in 2023 across 14 markets, due to their limited shelf life and an unsatisfactory customer experience.
• 🇨🇭 Stock Market. Julius Bär plans to return up to 600m CHF to its shareholders through a share buyback, following the conclusion of FINMA's investigation into its losses related to Signa.
• 🇨🇭 M&A. The €2.8bn financing of Platinum Equity's acquisition of a stake in Nestlé's water business includes a broad protection clause rarely granted to banks.
• 🇨🇭 Innovation. Deep-tech company NovoViz from Neuchâtel climbs from 66th to 27th place in the Top 100 Swiss Startup Award 2026, after a progression of 39 ranks in one year.
• 🇧🇪 Innovation. Antwerp-based start-up NOX Energy raises €3m to roll out its intelligent energy management software across Europe following a strategic refocus.

SMI Index

📅 Data as of 2026-10-05 07:55

Forex CHF

📅 Data as of 2026-10-05 07:55