Swiss Market Closes Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended on a firm note on Monday, rising in the closing minutes thanks to some brisk buying at a few frontline counters.

The market, which opened on a negative note, recovered after the first hour, but kept moving along the flat line till the penultimate hour.

Data showing a drop in Swiss unemployment rate aided sentiment.

The benchmark SMI, which hit a new record high at 11,641.31, ended the session with a gain of 59.98 points or 0.52% at 11,630.66.

Lonza Group shares gained nearly 4%. Roche Holding ended 2.4% up. Swatch Group climbed 2.2% and Richemont ended stronger by about 1.6%.

Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Re, Credit Suisse and Geberit shed 0.4 to 1%. Novartis, Swiss Life Holding and Givaudan also ended weak.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Sonova rallied more than 3%. Kuehne & Nagel, BB Biotech, Lindt & Spruengli Part and Lindt & Spruengli N gained 1 to 1.3%.

OC Oerlikon Corp and Dufry both ended lower by about 2.25%. Adecco, VAT Group, Temenos Group, Schindler Ps, Schindler Holding and Julius Baer lost 0.7 to 1%.

Data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed Switzerland's jobless rate decreased in May, falling to 3% (seasonally adjusted) in the month from 3.2% in April.

On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate fell to 3.1% in May from 3.3% in the previous month.

The number of registered unemployed declined to 142,966 in May from 151,279 in the preceding month.

The unemployment rate among the youth aged between 15 and 24, decreased to 2.4% in May from 2.7% in the prior month.

According to a report from the Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland's consumer prices rose for the second month in a row in May, growing by 0.6% year-on-year, after a 0.3% rise in April. This was in line with economists' expectation.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in May, after a 0.2% increase in the previous month.

The core CPI rose 0.2% yearly in May and rose 0.2% from the previous month.

The EU measure of harmonized index for consumer prices, or HICP rose 0.2% monthly in May and increased 0.3% from a year ago, the report showed.