Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - Despite opening on a cautious note and staying somewhat sluggish till about a couple of hours past noon, the Switzerland market ended on a firm note on Friday as stocks surged higher in the final hour on strong buying.

Data showing a contraction in U.S. private sector activity in the month of December and a slight drop in non-farm employment compared to a month earlier helped ease concerns about any aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve in the coming months.

The benchmark SMI ended higher by 87.15 points or 0.79% at 11,144.54, slightly off the day's high.

Logitech surged nearly 3% and Richemont gained about 2.5%. Geberit and Swiss Re gained 1.66% and 1.56%, respectively.

Novartis, ABB, Roche Holding, Swisscom, Zurich Insurance Group and Sika gained 0.78 to 1.02%. Alcon, Nestle and Swiss Life Holding posted modest gains.

Lonza Group drifted down 2.05%. Sonova declined nearly 1% and Partners Group shed about 0.5%.

In the Mid Price Index, Belimo Holding, VAT Group and AMS gained 3.3%, 2.75% and 2.03%, respectively.

Galenica Sante, Clariant, SIG Combibloc, Georg Fischer, Baloise Holding and Flughafen Zurich surged 1 to 1.6%.

Adecco and Tecan Group ended lower by 1.15% and 1.1%, respectively. Lindt & Spruengli lost about 6% and Julius Baer ended 0.5% down.

In economic news, Switzerland's retail sales continued to fall in November, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Friday.

Retail sales adjusted for sales days and holidays fell a working-day adjusted 1.3% year-on-year in November. Sales decreased 2.6% in October.

On a monthly basis, retail sales grew 1.5% in November. In nominal terms, retail sales decreased 1.3% annually and advanced by 1.6% monthly in November.