The Switzerland stock market ended notably higher on Thursday after staying firm right through the session thanks to sustained buying at several frontline counters.
The benchmark SMI, which gave up some gains after rising to 11,141.20 around mid morning, ended the day at 11,118.03, up 70.66 points or 0.64% from previous close.
Credit Suisse, which suffered sharp losses in the previous two sessions, ended with a strong gain of 2.6% today. Partners Group, Swatch Group, UBS Group, Swiss Life Holding, Richemont and Lonza Group gained 1.4 to 2%.
SGS, Geberit, Sika, Alcon, Zurich Insurance Group, ABB, Givaudan and Swisscom ended higher by 0.75 to 1.25%.
Among SMI components, only LafargeHolcim and Roche Holdings failed to make to the positive territory in the session. The two stocks ended slightly down from previous closing levels.
Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Straumann Holding and AMS both ended higher by 3.6%. Temenos Group gained 3.1%, while Julius Baer, BB Biotech, Sonova, OC Oerlikon Corp, VAT Group, Adecco, Tecan Group, Logitech and Kuehne & Nagel ended higher by 1.5 to 2.1%.
In economic news, retail sales in Switzerland dropped 6.3% year-on-year in February, following an upwardly revised 0.7% fall in the previous month, data from Swiss Federal Statistical Office showed. Compared to previous month, retail sales were down 5.2% in February.
Consumer prices in Switzerland were down 0.2% year-on-year in March, compared to forecasts of a 0.3% drop. It is the lowest deflation rate since February of 2020. Month-on-month, inflation rose 0.3% in March.
Meanwhile, the procure.ch Manufacturing PMI in Switzerland jumped to 66.3 in March from 61.3 in February.
Market Analysis
Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note
2021-04-01 18:26:20
