Swiss Market Ends Higher For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended on a firm note on Monday, with investors reacting positively to the country's non-farm payrolls data.

Investors were also looking ahead to the GDP data for the first quarter, due on Tuesday.

The benchmark SMI ended up 46.07 points, or 0.48%, at 9,712.96. The index scaled a low of 9,710.37 and a high of 9,754.53 in the session.

On Thursday, the SMI ended up 72.58 points, or 0.76%, at 9,666.89, about 22 points off the day's high of 9,688.86.

Novartis ended higher by about 1.5%. The company said it has got U.S. approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy, and priced the one-time treatment at a record $2.125 million.

The drugmaker's breast cancer treatment alpslisib, to be marketed under the brand name Piqray, also won FDA approval on Friday.

Richemont, Givaudan, Swiss Re, Credit Suisse, Swisscom, Nestle and Zurich Insurance Group also closed on a positive note.

Swatch Group shares declined 1.7% and Alcon ended 1.2% down. LafargeHolcim and Adecco Group posted modest losses.

According to the data released on Sunday, Switzerland's non-farm payrolls rose 1.3% from a year earlier to 5.071 million in the first quarter of 2019, unchanged from the previous three-month period. Employment in the industrial sector grew 1.5% to 1.090 million, thanks to growth in manufacturing (1.7%) and construction (0.8%) sectors.

In addition, payrolls in services went up 1.3% to 3.980 million, driven by gains in business services, health, transport and communication, financial and insurance activities, and hotels and restaurants.

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, is set to release the gross domestic product growth figures for the first quarter of this year on Tuesday.

Quarterly growth is forecast to double to 0.4% in the first quarter from 0.2% in the final three months of 2018. In the third quarter last year, the economy shrunk 0.3%.

However, economists have predicted a slowing in the annual growth pace, to 1% from 1.4% in the final quarter of last year when a stagnation in domestic demand was offset by robust manufacturing and exports.

The Swiss National Bank has forecast growth of around 1.5% this year after a 2.5% expansion last year.

In March, the SECO slashed the growth forecast for this year further, citing weaker demand for the country's exports due to the slowdown in the global economy and trade.

The GDP growth forecast for this year was trimmed to 1.1% from 1.5% predicted in December. The growth forecast for next year was left unchanged at 1.7%, as the global economy is expected to gain moderate momentum, boosting trade and thus, the Swiss economy.