Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday, in line with markets across Europe, as worries about U.S. debt eased, and dovish comments from some Fed officials suggested a pause in interest rate hikes.

The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 11,324.54, ended with a gain of 78.39 points or 0.7% at 11,296.28.

Credit Suisse climbed more than 3%. UBS Group gained about 2.4%. Swiss Re surged 1.71%, while Geberit, Lonza Group, Novartis, Givaudan, Sonovi, Alcon, ABB and Nestle gained 0.8 to 1.2%.

Richemont declined 1.42%. Logitech ended lower by about 0.9% and Swisscom ended marginally down.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, DocMorris surged 6.5%. Belimo Holding rallied 2.5%, Barry Callebaut climbed 1.58% and Straumann Holding gained 1.5%.

Schindler Ps, AMS, SIG Combibloc, Lindt & Spruengli, Clariant, Adecco, SGS and Georg Fischer also ended with strong gains.

Helvetia and Swatch Group ended lower by 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively. Bachem Holding and Dufry both ended down by about 1.65%.

In economic news, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's trade surplus shrank to CHF 2.2 billion in April from CHF 3.1 billion in March. Further, this was the lowest trade surplus since November last year.

In real terms, exports dropped 5.2% month-on-month in April, reversing a 2.5% gain in March. Imports showed a decline of 3.3% versus a 0.4% rise in the previous month.

Elsewhere, data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry showed that watch exports continued to grow strongly in April. Exports posted a growth rate of 6.8%.