Swiss Market Erases Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the modest two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 150 points or 1.3 percent.

The SMI opened higher and remained in the green throughout the trading day, exceeding the mixed performance exhibited elsewhere in Europe.

The market rallied amid hopes that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle. In addition, China reported downbeat PMI data, adding pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus measures.

For the day, the index advanced 35.73 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 11,125.95 after trading between 11,106.24 and 11,172.69.

Among the actives, UBS surged 6.05 percent, while Julius Bar Gruppe soared 2.60 percent, Swiss Life rallied 1.58 percent, Novartis slumped 0.69 percent, Roche Holding sank 0.57 percent, Swatch Group fell 0.48 percent, ABB improved 0.15 percent and Adecco Group was up 0.11 percent.

In corporate news, banking giant UBS reported significantly higher profit in its second quarter on Thursday, primarily reflecting a $29 billion negative goodwill on the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group, as well as higher revenues.

Looking ahead for the third quarter, UBS expects Group underlying profit before tax to be at around breakeven, and to deliver positive underlying profit before tax in the second half.

The company also announced its decision to integrate Credit Suisse AG's Swiss unit Credit Suisse Schweiz AG. Closing of the legal entity merger is expected in 2024. The company said it aims to substantially complete the integration by the end of 2026.