Swiss Market Closes On Upbeat Note

The Switzerland stock market ended on a buoyant note on Monday, as the mood remained upbeat right through the session amid rising optimism about global economic recovery.

The passage of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill in the U.S. Senate, and positive news about the progress in vaccination drive lifted sentiment.

The benchmark SMI ended with a handsome gain of 222.59 points or 2.1% at 10,830.38, slightly off the day’s high of 10,838.29.

All the components of the SMI index closed on the positive side. ABB, up nearly 4.5%, was the top gainer. Swatch Group gained 3.8%, while Richemont, Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding and UBS Group gained 3 to 3.3%.

LafargeHolcim, Geberit, Novartis, Sika, Zurich Insurance Group, Givaudan and Swisscom movedup 2 to 2.8%, while Credit Suisse, Roche Holding and Lonza Group gained 1.5 to 1.8%. Alcon ended 1.1% up.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Flughafen Zurich, Vifor Pharma, OC Oerlikon Corp, Dufry and Georg Fischer gained 3.8 to 5.2%. Julius Baer ended nearly 4% up and Helvetial ended 3.8% up.

Adecco, BB Biotech, Clariant, VAT Group, Baloise Holding, Logitech, Galenica Sante and Cembra Money Bank also closed with strong gains.

Data released by State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said the Swiss unemployment rate inched down to a non-seasonally adjusted 3.6% in February from 3.7% in the previous month, as the number of unemployed people fell by 1,800, or 1.1%, to 167,953.

Meantime, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old edged down to 3.3% from 3.4%, with the number of young unemployed declining by 438, or 2.5%, to 17,328.