Swiss Market Fails To Hold Early Gains, Ends Marginally Down

(RTTNews) - After opening higher, the Switzerland stock market slipped into the red around noon and stayed weak right till the end of the session on Thursday, with investors largely making cautious moves, despite positive global cues.

The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 11,279.81 in early trades, ended with a loss of 12.51 points or 0.11% at 11,188.42, nearly 50 points off the day's low.

ABB, Zurich Insurance Group and Novartis lost 2.4 to 2.8%. Roche Holding ended nearly 2% down, while Nestle and Swisscom shed 1.08% and 0.74%, respectively.

Partners Group climbed more than 9%. Sika, Sonova, Gebrit, Lonza Group and Credit Suisse surged 4.5 to 6%.

Givaudan ended nearly 4% up. Logitech rallied 3.3% and Alcon gained about 2.35%. UBS Group, Richemont and Holcim also ended notably higher.

In the Mid Price Index, Zur Rose zoomed nearly 17%. Straumann Holding surged 12%. Kuehne & Nagel, VAT Group and AMS gained 7.8%, 7.1% and 6.9%, respectively.

Temenos Group, Schindler Ps, Schindler Holding, Georg Fischer, Ems Chemie Holding, Belimo Holding, Tecan Group, Bachem Holding and Adecco ended stronger by 3.3 to 5.5%.

In economic news, consumer sentiment in Switzerland sharply improved in the January quarter to top economists' expectations, driven by significantly less pessimism among households' regarding their own and the national economic situation in the coming months, survey data from the State Secretariat For Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed.

The consumer confidence index climbed to -30 from -47 in the October survey. Economists had expected a score of -38. The latest reading was the strongest since the second quarter survey of 2022, when it was -28.

However, the headline reading remained well below its long-term average of -6 points.