Swiss Market Ends Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended marginally up on Friday after moving in a very tight range with investors weighing quarterly earnings updates and the recent post monetary policy meeting comments by the Fed Chief Jerome Powell.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 16.58 points or 0.15% at 11,145.91, the day's low. The index touched a high of 11,216.76 in the session.

Partners Group climbed nearly 5.5%. Sika rallied 5%. UBS Group, Geberit, Givaudan, Credit Suisse and ABB gained 2.8 to 3.5%.

Swiss Life Holding, Holcim, Lonza Group, Richemont, Zurich Insurance Group and Swisscom ended higher by 1.3 to 2.4%.

Roche Holding drifted down 2.7% and Novartis ended lower by 1.76%, while Swiss Re and Nestle both shed about 0.5%.

In the Mid Price Index, Schindler Ps surged 4.65%. Schindler Holding gained 4.1%, Straumann Holding, Ems Chemie Holding, Georg Fischer, Adecco and Zur Rose gained between 3 to 3.5%.

Kuehne & Nagel, Cembra Money Bank, Lindt & Spruengli, Tecan Group, Swatch Group, VAT Group and Julius Baer also ended sharply higher.

AMS dropped more than 5%. Swiss Prime Site and PSP Swiss Property posted modest losses.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed retail sales in Switzerland climbed 1.2% year-on-year in June of 2022, reversing from an upwardly revised 1.3% drop in the previous month. On a monthly basis, retail sales edged up 0.1%, easing from an upwardly revised 1.3% rise in May.

A report from the Swiss Economic Institute said Switzerland's leading KOF economic barometer fell to 90.1 in July of 2022 from a downwardly revised 95.2 in the prior month, missing expectations of a score of 95.2.