Swiss Market Shrugs Off Weak Start, Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - After opening weak and remaining subdued till noon, Swiss stocks found some support and kept edging higher on Thursday, and finally ended the day's session on a firm note.

Data showing a strong pace of expansion of the Swiss economy in the first quarter of this year aided sentiment.

The benchmark SMI, which edged down to 12,074.64 in early trades, ended the session with a gain of 95.09 points or 0.78% at 12,227.28, the day's high.

Givaudan, the top gainer in the SMI index, climbed 2.53%. SGS gained nearly 2%, while Swisscom and Nestle, both closed higher by about 1.65%.

Schindler Ps, Novartis, Sandoz Group, Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, Roche Holding and Sonova gained 0.9 to 1.2%. ABB, Lindt & Spruengli, UBS Group and Geberit also ended on firm note.

VAT Group closed down 1.1%. Sika, Adecco, Lonza Group, Partners Group and Straumann Holding also ended notably lower.

Data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed that Switzerland's economy expanded by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2025, following an upwardly revised 0.5% growth in the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate. This marked the strongest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2023.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's producer and import prices dropped by 0.5% year-on-year in April 2025, deepening from a 0.1% fall in the previous month. This marked the 24th consecutive period of producer deflation and the steepest since December 2024.

On a monthly basis, producer and import prices edged higher by 0.1% in April, the same pace as in the prior month but slightly missing forecasts of a 0.2% rise.