Swiss Market Hits New High, Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market opened slightly down Monday morning, but recovered swiftly and stayed firm thereafter to eventually end the session on a bright note.

The mood was quite positive thanks to easing concerns about the economic impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

While Omicron seems to be more transmissible, the new strain purportedly causes milder symptoms and could potentially accelerate the end of the pandemic.

The benchmark SMI, which scaled a new peak at 12,893.39, settled with a gain of 81.58 points or 0.64% at 12,866.90.

Lonza Group shares gained 1.84%. Geberit ended nearly 1.5% up, while Alcon, Sika and Richemont advanced 1 to 1.25%.

Roche Holding and ABB both gained nearly 1%. SGS, Givaudan, Partners Group, UBS Group and Swiss Life Holding closed with modest gains.

Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, VAT Group gained 2.63% and AMS moved up by about 2.3%. Dufry gained 1.84%, while Swatch Group, Flughafen Zurich, Tecan Group, Cembra Money Bank, Schindler Ps, Schindler Holding and Lindt & Spruengli moved up 0.9 to 1.4%.

In virus update, the Federal Office of Public Health said today that the weekly average count was up 5%. Hospital admissions were also higher. The office also said that the new variant dominates new infections accounting for 55% over the holiday weekend

Meanwhile, Swissmedic approved the use pf monoclonal antibody cocktail Ronapreve deveoped by Roche and Regeneron for use in the treatment and prevention of Covid-19. The Janssen booster shot has also got the nod from the agency.