Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - After a good spell till an hour past noon, Swiss stocks retreated, but emerged higher in the final hour thanks to selective buying to end the day's session on a positive note.

Weak eurozone economic sentiment data and anxiety ahead of the release of Fed minutes later in the day, and U.S. jobs data due later in the week, rendered the mood cautious.

The benchmark SMI closed up 45.44 points or 0.38% at 11,876.21, after scaling a low of 11,783.22 and a high of 11,937.72 intraday.

Partners Group climbed nearly 2.5% thanks to a rating upgrade by Deutsche Bank.

Sandoz Group gained 1.44%, while Holcim, Roche Holding, ABB, Novartis, Lonza Group, Nestle and Sika closed higher by 0.5 to 1.1%.

Geberit and Logitech International closed lower by 1.52% and 1.43%, respectively. Alcon, Lindt & Spruengli, Adecco and VAT Group drifted down 0.8 to 1.2%.