Swiss Market Ends Higher For 2nd Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended modestly higher on Friday, gaining in strength slowly after a weak start.

While concerns about the ongoing political spat between the European Union and Swiss government weighed on stock early on in the session, profit taking and mild optimism about trade ahead of Trump-Xi meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit pulled the market out of the red.

The benchmark SMI ended up 38.48 points, or 0.39%, at 9,898.24. The index touched a low of 9,859.76 and a high of 9,901.57.

On Thursday, the SMI ended up 21.63 points, or 0.22%, at 9.859.76.

Alcon ended stronger by about 2.5%. Lonza Group gained 1.5% and Givaudan moved up 1.25%. Sika, Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding, ABB, Geberit, Nestle and Roche Holding gained 0.4 to 1%.

SGS and LafargeHolcim shed 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively.

Credit Suisse ended modestly lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve placed conditions on the lender's operations after finding weaknesses in its capital planning processes.

Among midcap stocks, AMS jumped nearly 5.5%. Kuehne & Nagel, VAT Group, Vifor Pharma, Logitech and OC Oerlikon Group gained 2.5 to 3.6%.

On the economic front, the KOF Economic Barometer for Switzerland came in with a less than expected score of 93.6 for June, edging down by 0.2 points from a downwardly revised 93.8 in the previous month.

Indicators of foreign demand showed a positive trend, while those in manufacturing and private consumption pointed in the opposite direction. There was also a slight weakening in the banking and insurance industry.

According to reports, Switzerland has initiated measures to counter the European Commission's refusal to extend recognition to Swiss stock markets, escalating concerns over a stalled partnership treaty.