Swiss Market Ends Higher On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market returned from its lengthy New Year's break to the upside, opening higher on Wednesday and remaining in the green throughout the session.

Separated by four days, the SMI has now finished higher in two straight trading sessions, collecting more than 110 points or 1 percent along the way.

The upside was limited, however, as investors looked ahead to the release of Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes later in the day to gauge the rate hike trajectory, which some analysts now suggest may have been too optimistic.

For the day, the index added 32.47 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 11,170.26 after trading between 11,136.29 and 11,294.93.

Among the actives, Sika plunged 5.63 percent, while Novartis spiked 4.43 percent, UBS Group stumbled 4.41 percent, Swatch Group sank 3.76 percent, ABB dropped 3.16 percent, Roche Holding rallied 3.01 percent, Swisscom jumped 1.94 percent, Nestle advanced 1.84 percent, Zurich Insurance collected 0.82 percent, Swiss Life lost 0.79 percent and Swiss Re rose 0.59 percent.