Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market, which took a breather on Friday after a 13-day winning streak, ended on a firm note on Monday despite a weak start.

After struggling early on in the session, the market emerged into positive territory by mid morning, and despite moving just above the flat line till the penultimate hour, closed notably higher thanks to brisk buying at a few counters in the closing minutes.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 54.38 points or 0.46% at 11,995.63, the day's high. The index dropped to a low of 11,874.41 in early trades.

ABB gained 1.75%, Givaudan surged up 1.6% and SGS climbed 1.2%. Geberit, Richemont, Holcim and Swatch Group ended higher by 0.9 to 1.1%.

Swisscom, Sika, Nestle, Novartis and Partners Group also ended higher, while Lonza Group, UBS Group and Zurich Insurance Group closed weak.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Logitech gained nearly 3%. Kuehne & Nagel climbed 2.35% and Schindler Holding ended nearly 2% up. SIG Combibloc, Schindler Ps, Helvetia, Ems Chemie Holding, Julius Baer and VAT Group gained 1 to 1.8%.

On the other hand, Dufry and Tecan Group lost 2.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Vifor Pharma ended lower by about 0.9%.

On the vaccination front, Switzerland plans to allow 12 to 15-year olds to receive vaccinations against COVID-19 as soon as next week, government vaccine chief Christoph Berger told Swiss newspaper NZZ in an interview published on Sunday.