Swiss Market Ends On Bright Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a bright note on Thursday, in line with other markets across the region, amid easing concerns about interest rates thanks to soft inflation data from the U.S., the U.K., and the Eurozone.

The market started off on a negative note, but recovered soon and stayed positive thereafter, gaining in strength as the session progressed.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 11,087.67 in early trades, ended with a gain of 81.40 points or 0.73% at 11,201.55, after climbing to a high of 11,216.81.

ABB rallied 3.4% and Novartis climbed 2.25%. Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Life Holding and Swiss Re ended higher by 1.7 to 2%.

Holcim ended 1.3% up. Roche Holding gained nearly 1%, while Alcon and Swisscom both ended higher by about 0.8%.

Givaudan ended lower by 1.7% and Richemont ended 1.1% down. Nestle and Partners Group posted moderate losses.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, DocMorris climbed 3.5%. Helvetia, Barry Callebaut, Lindt & Spruengli and Baloise Holding gained 1.2 to 1.6%.

Georg Fischer plunged nearly 8%. VAT Group dropped 4.6%, while AMS and Adecco ended lower by 2.8% and 2.3%, respectively.

Temenos Group, Straumann Holding, Tecan Group, Swatch Group, Schindler Holding and Schindler Ps also ended notably lower.

On the economic front, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's foreign trade surplus increased to CHF 9.92 billion in the second quarter as imports fell faster than exports. Trade surplus stood at CHF 8.62 billion in the previous quarter.

In real terms, exports declined 1.4% sequentially in the June quarter, reversing a 3.6% recovery in the March quarter. Similarly, imports logged a 3% decrease in the second quarter, in contrast to a 0.5% gain in the previous quarter.

In nominal terms, exports and imports slid by 2.8% and 5.4%, respectively.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports grew sharply by 14% year-on-year in June. The first half of this year also showed strong growth of 11.8%.