Swiss Market Ends On Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended with strong gains on Tuesday, as markets across the globe rallied on yesterday's announcement from the Federal Reserve about its extensive asset-buying program.

Optimism that the U.S. Senate will eventually agree on a massive fiscal stimulus contributed as well to the steep rise in stock prices in the Swiss market.

According to reports, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., both expressed optimism a deal on a nearly $2 trillion stimulus package would be reached today.

The Swiss benchmark SMI ended up 572.53 points, or 7.02%, at 8,733.32, after opening just marginally up at 8,187.51.

On Monday, the SMI ended down 463.07 points, or 5.37%, at 8,160.79, after declining 1.8% a session earlier.

Swiss Re gained 16.75%, Swiss Life Holding ended nearly 16% up and Credit Suisse ended almost 15% up.

LafargeHolcim, Zurich Insurance Group, Adecco, UBS Group, Alcon, Sika, ABB, Geberit and Lonza Group ended stronger by 10 to 14%.

SGS, Swatch Group, Swisscom and Richemont gained 6 to 7.5%.

Roche Holding gained 4.6%. Givaudan and Novartis advanced by 4.2% and 3.7%, respectively, while Nestle notched up a gain of 2.5%.

In the midcap section, Dufry gained more than 21% and Julius Baer jumped nearly 19%, while Partners Group and Temenos Group added 1.5% and 15.2%, respectively.

Baloise Holding, Helvetia, Georg Fischer, Vifor Pharma and OC Oerlikon group gained 10 to 14%.

Among the other major indices in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 spurted 9.05%, Germany's DAX climbed almost 11% and France's CAC 40 jumped 8.39%. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended stronger by 8.4%.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from Spain's economic ministry, the Spain government has authorised a bid by Swiss exchange SIX to buy the Madrid stock market operator BME.

Acquiring the Madrid stock market operator would give SIX a base inside the European Union, and potentially help Switzerland regain access to EU equity markets after Brussels blocked EU-based investors from trading on Swiss exchanges from July in a row over a treaty.

"We are very pleased with the decision by the Spanish government," a SIX spokesman said. "This is a major milestone for us."