Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday, bucking the largely weak trend seen across Europe.

The market started off on a weak note, but emerged in positive territory about an hour later, and then stayed firm right through the day's session.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 69.01 points or 0.63% at 10,993.43, the day's high.

Swiss Re gained nearly 2%. Roche Holding, Novartis, Sika and Swisscom climbed 1.2 to 1.7%.

Kuehne & Nagel ended 0.7% up, and Alcon gained 0.75%. Nestle advanved nearly 1% after it agreed to acquire Brazilian chocolate brand Kopenhagen.

Sonova dropped 2.5%. Logitech and Swiss Life Holding ended lower by 1.53% and 1.31%, respectively. UBS Group, Richemont, Lonza Group and Partners Group also ended notably lower.

In the Mid Price Index, Swiss Prime Site, Swatch Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Galenica Sante, Baloise Holding, Flughafen Zurich and PSP Swiss Property gained 0.6 to 1.2%.

AMS ended 6.25% down. Meyer Burger Tech declined 5% and VAT Group ended lower by 3.65%.

Dufry, Georg Fischer, Barry Callebaut, Tecan Group, DocMorris and Julius Baer drifted down 1 to 1.5%.

On the economic front, data from State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed the Swiss unemployment rate rose to a non-seasonally adjusted 2% in August 2023, from 1.9% in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15-24 years old, edged up to 2.2% from a prior 1.8%.