Swiss Stock Market Extends Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ticked higher on Tuesday, closing in the green for the third straight session and advancing more than 85 points or 0.8 percent in that span. That defied the rest of the European markets, which finished mostly in the red.

Those markets were kept under water by ongoing concerns about the outlook for U.S. interest rates, especially following better than expected economic data last week that may allow the FOMC to more aggressively trim stimulus.

Geopolitical tensions also were on investors' radar following U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech on the Ukraine war.

For the day, the SMI advanced 15.48 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 11,282.16 after trading between 11,164.10 and 11,292.72.

Among the individual components, Credit Suisse tumbled 4.11 percent, while Novartis climbed 1.09 percent, Swiss Re skidded 1.01 percent, Swiss Life collected 0.94 percent, Julius Bar Gruppe sank 0.75 percent, Roche Holding added 0.66 percent, Compagnie Financiere Richemont gained 0.56 percent, Zurich Insurance rose 0.25 percent, Swisscom dipped 0.21 percent and UBS Group perked 0.05 percent.

In economic news, Switzerland's exports increased for the second consecutive month in January on the back of strong demand for chemical and pharmaceutical items, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed on Tuesday.

Exports climbed 2.5 percent on month in January, following the 5.6 percent gain in the previous month, while imports rose 0.2 percent following a 0.3 percent gain in December. The trade surplus advanced to CHF 3.12 billion in January from CHF 2.82 billion in the previous month.