Swiss Market Ends On Positive Note

The Switzerland stock market ended on a positive note on Tuesday, bucking the weak trend in other markets in Europe. Still, the mood remained cautious once again, with investors looking ahead to the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.

The benchmark SMI ended with a modest gain of 41.96 points or 0.39% at 10,782.21. The index, which stayed a bit sluggish in the first hour, edged higher as the session progressed.

Sonova rallied 5.4% despite lowering its annual core profit forecast.

Nestle gained about 1.5% and Holcim ended 1.1% up. Novartis, Alcon and Givaudan ended higher by 0.8 to 1%. Swiss Re advanced 0.6%.

UBS Group and Lonza Group ended lower by 1.33% and 1.23%, respectively. Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Life Holding, Richemont and Logitech International declined 0.5 to 0.7%.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Lindt & Spruengli advanced 1.11%. Straumann Holdings, Tecan Group and Galenica Sante gained 0.35 to 0.6%.

AMS tanked 10.3%. Meyer Burger Tech, BKW, Clariant, VAT Group, Swatch Group, Avolta and Belimo Holding ended lower by 1 to 2.4%.

Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland’s trade surplus dropped to CHF 3.4 billion in October from CHF 5.0 billion in September.

In real terms, exports fell 7.2% monthly in October, reversing a 3.8% rise in the previous month. The decline in imports deepened to 3.1% from 0.7%.

In nominal terms, both exports and imports slid by 10.7% and 4.9%, respectively.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports rose 5.1% year-on-year in October.

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