Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market, which briefly slipped into negative territory around mid afternoon on Friday, recovered swiftly to end the session modestly higher, thanks to some brisk buying at a few frontline counters.

Data showing an improvement in the nation's GDP growth in the third quarter contributed to the positive mood in the Swiss market.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 33.04 points or 0.3% at 10,887.36, after scaling a low of 10,851.92 and a high of 10,935.49.

Roche Holding, Sonova, ABB, Swiss Life Holding, Holcim and Kuehne & Nagel gained 1 to 1.5%.

Givaudan advanced nearly 1%. UBS Group and Richemont gained about 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.

Swiss Re tumbled 4.76%. Lonza Group declined 1.06% and Logitech International ended nearly 1% down. Geberit and Nestle also closed weak.

In the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech soared 8.4%. Santoz surged 2.75%, while Flughafen Zurich, Avolta and Julius Baer gained 0.7 to 1%.

ams OSRAM AG shares ended nearly 6% down. Tecan Group lost about 2.5%, and Barry Callebaut ended lower by 1.58%.

Data from the Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed Switzerland's economy rebounded in the third quarter underpinned by exports and consumption.

Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, in contrast to the 0.1% fall in the previous three months, the data showed. The Swiss economy was forecast to expand 0.1%.

GDP expanded 0.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, the same rate as seen in the previous three months.

On the expenditure-side, private consumption growth halved to 0.2% from 0.4%. At the same time, government consumption gained 0.5% after staying flat a quarter ago.

Exports of goods and services grew 6.2% and 0.4%, respectively. At the same time, imports of goods gained 1.5%, while that of services dropped 0.4%.

In September, the government had projected the economy to expand 1.3% this year and 1.2% in 2024.