Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

After languishing in negative territory till noon, Swiss stocks moved higher on Thursday and ended the session on a firm note, in line with markets across Europe.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 11,652.40 in early trades, closed up 79.84 points or 0.68% at 11,783.65. The index touched a high of 11,801.07.

Straumann Holding climbed about 3.3%. Logitech International and Kuehne + Nagel gained 2.97% and 2.63%, respectively. Swatch Group, Richemont and Partners Group ended higher by 2.3 to 2.5%.

SIG Group and VAT Group ended up 1.84% and 1.8%, respectively. Geberit, Nestle, Zurich Insurance Group and ABB advanced 1 to 1.35%. Julius Baer, Novartis, Adecco, UBS Group, Swisscom and Schindler Ps also closed on a firm note.

Swiss Re gained about 0.5%. The insurer recorded a year-over-year drop in third-quarter group net income to $102 million from $1.02 billion, with revenue also declining over the period. The group expects net income for full-year 2024 to exceed $3 billion, assuming normal loss activity for the remainder of the year.

Shares of pharmaceutical company Curatis climbed nearly 10% after the company announced its intention to apply for a biologic license for its C-PTBE-01 drug (for treating diffuse midline glioma, an aggressive brain tumor) in the US. Its regulatory pathway review concluded that the treatment qualifies for the application.

Sandoz Group closed down 1.4%. Alcon ended lower by 1.01% and Holcim closed with a loss of 0.76%. Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding and Lindt Ps also ended weak.