Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended higher on Wednesday, bucking the weak trend seen across Europe.

Except for a brief while in the first hour, the market was up in positive territory during the day's session thanks to a few top stocks moving higher on selective buying interest.

The benchmark SMI ended up 59.53 points, or 0.63%, at 9,571.70. The index, which eased to a low of 9,480.10 in early trades, hit a high of 9,597.33 later in the session.

Sika and Roche Holding ended stronger by 2.15% and 1.95%, respectively. Novartis gained nearly 1.5% and Geberit moved up 1.2%.

Nestle, Givaudan and SGS ended modestly higher.

Adecco declined 2.7%. ABB ended lower by 1.8%, while Credit Suisse and UBS Group both shed about 1.45%.

In the midcap section, Temenos Group and AMS moved up 4.4% and 4.2%, respectively. Sonova advanced 2.7% and BB Biotech gained 2.6%.

Dorma Kaba Holding, Logitech and Partners Group gained 2 to 2.1%, while Julius Baer and Lindt & Sp Ps both ended higher 1.4%.

Dufry declined more than 5%, extending recent losses. PSP Swiss Property lost 2%, while Sunrise Communications and Helvetia shed 1.4% and 1.25%, respectively.

Investment bank UBS said in a report that a measure of the risk of a real estate bubble in Switzerland's market for owner-occupied homes rose to its highest level in just over two years in the three months to March, signalling that the market is in the risk zone.

The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index climbed to 1.30 in the first quarter from a revised 1.26 in the previous three months. The reading was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2017, when it was at the same level.

"This puts the Swiss real estate market in the risk zone," UBS said. "The coronavirus effect should only become visible in the current quarter."