Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note
Data showing a drop in Swiss unemployment in April aided sentiment.
The benchmark SMI, faltered and briefly slipped into negative territory after a positive start, but recovered well and eventually ended with a gain of 62.47 points or 0.56% at 11,173.57, the day's high.
Alcon shares gained 2.75%. Swatch Group climbed 2.3%, while Partners Group, Zurich Insurance Group, Roche Holding and Swiss Life Holding gained 1.2 to 1.4%.
Richemont ended nearly 1% up, while SGS, Sika, Swiss Re, Novartis and Lonza Group gained 0.5 to 0.8%.
LafargeHolcim ended lower by about 3.4%. Credit Suisse and Swisscom posted modest losses.
Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Logitech rallied 3.3%. VAT Group, AMS, Tecan Group and SIG Combibloc gained 2 to 2.8%, while Sonova, Temenos Group, Adecco, BB Biotech, Georg Fischer and Helvetia moved up 1.4 to 1.9%.