Swiss Market Closes Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended modestly higher on Tuesday after holding firm right through the day's trading session. Reports that the U.S. would move to reduce the impact of duties imposed on foreign parts in domestically manufactured cars helped underpin sentiment.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 38.44 points or 0.32% at 12,066.69, more than 50 points off a high of 12,117.85 it touched around early afternoon.

Sandoz Group climbed about 1.7%. Roche Holding gained 1.43%, while Givaudan and Zurich Insurance both ended higher by about 1.2%.

Lonza Group, Swisscom, Novartis, Alcon, Swiss Re, Logitech International and Julius Baer gained 0.5 to 1.1%.

Novartis gained nearly 1% after reporting a 34% (year-over-year) surge in first-quarter net income to $3.61 billion, thanks to higher operating income and a 12% increase in net sales to third parties. The company raised its guidance for full-year 2025, expecting a high single-digit growth in net sales.

ABB closed nearly 2% down. SIG Group and Adecco ended down 1.46% and 1.37%, respectively. Richemont, Kuehne + Nagel, Holcim, Strauamann Holding, Sika and Swatch Group ended lower by 0.6 to 1.1%.

In economic news, a report from the European Commission said the economic sentiment indicator (ESI) in the Euro Area fell to 93.6 in April 2025, down from a revised 95.0 in March and below market expectations of 94.5. This marked the lowest reading since December.. Consumer sentiment dropped sharply (-16.7 vs. -14.5 in March).

On the pricing front, consumer inflation expectations surged by 5.1 points to 29.6, their highest level since November 2022, while manufacturers' selling price expectations edged down by 0.3 points to 11.0, easing from March's two-year high.