Swiss Market Settles Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended modestly higher on Friday as investors reacted positively to comments about a potential phase one U.S.-China trade deal from Chinese President Xi Jinping and the U.S. President Donald Trump.

The benchmark SMI ended up 31.09 points, or 0.3%, at 10,369.44, around 50 points off the day's high of 10,419.76.

On Thursday, the SMI ended down 47.39 points, or 0.46%, at 10,338.35, snapping a four-day winning streak.

UBS Group shares gained nearly 2%. Credit Suisse advanced 1.4% and Givaudan advanced 1.2%, while Swatch Group and Adecco both ended higher by about 1.05%.

Richemont ende nearly 1% up. Sika, Zurich Insurance Group, Geberit, ABB and SGS gained 0.5 to 0.85%.

Roche edged down by about 0.28%. The company has extended the deadline again for its tender offer for Spark Therapeutics, saying the U.S. and British anti-trust authorities needed more time to review the deal. The offer, which was originally due to expire on Nov. 25, has now been extended to December 10.

Among Swiss Mid Price Components, Lindt & Sp gained 1.5%. Temenos Group, Dorma Kaba Holding, AMS, VAT Group and Sonova ended higher by 0.8 to 1.2%.

Aryzta shares declined 2% after the compay said its first-quarter revenue was down 2.1% to 843.9 million euros, from 933.94 million.

Most of the markets across Europe ended higher as trade deal hopes outweighed weak economic data and concerns over the political unrest in Hong Kong.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.44%. Among the major indices in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 1.22%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both closed higher by 0.2%.