More than 60 billion ($116 billion) was wiped off the value of Switzerland's leading companies after the central bank scrapped the cap on the Swiss franc against the euro.
The Swiss National Bank's decision to abandon the three-year ceiling sparked a near 30 per cent surge in the franc against the European currency - a sudden increase in volatility that in turn triggered a bout of equity market turbulence.
The Swiss Market Index fell the most in 25 years, with volumes seven times the normal 30-day average as traders scrambled to react to the shock move. The indices closed 8.7 per cent lower to 8400.61 - the lowest point since 1989.
Watchmaker Swatch Group collapsed by 16.4 per cent, prompting its chief executive Nick Hayek to make an impassioned statement that the decision to end the minimum exchange rate on the Swiss franc was a "tsunami" for the Alpine country.
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Advertise with NZME."Words fail me," Hayek said. "SNB action is a tsunami, for the export industry and for tourism, and finally for the entire country."
Rival watchmaker Richemont, owner of luxury brands Dunhill, and Van Cleef & Arpels, plunged shortly by 15.5 per cent.
Luxury watchmakers have already been battling weakening sales in Asia. Timepieces make up more than a 10th of the country's total exports, led by brands including Rolex, Swatch's Omega and Richemont's Cartier.
Chocolate maker Nestle closed 6.2 per cent lower, with analysts warning the company behind KitKats and Nescafe has the bulk of its central costs in Switzerland. Banks UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer were also all badly hit. Julius Baer suffered record falls, dropping by as much as 11.5 per cent, with UBS down at one point by 11 per cent and Credit Suisse plunging 12 per cent.
Swiss pharmaceutical companies Roche, BB Biotech and Actelion all suffered falls. Life sciences company Lonza said the surge would hurt its competitiveness and viability of its research and development facility.
"A weaker euro will mainly negatively impact the competitiveness of our Visp operations as more than 90 per cent of the products are exported, whereof the euro has an important share," a Lonza spokesman said.
"The minimum exchange rate was an important measure for Visp to be competitive and to have a stable exchange rate."
Telegraph Group Ltd
