Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher
(RTTNews) - After a positive start, Swiss stocks retreated and moved along the flat line right till the end of the day's trading session on Friday, as investors, returning to the market after New Year holidays, refrained from making significant moves.
The benchmark SMI closed with a modest gain of 23.12 points or 0.2% at 11,624.02. The index, which advanced to 11,663.64 in early trades, touched a low of 11,547.13 in the final hour.
UBS Group climbed 2.63% after BNP Paribas upgraded the stock's rating to "outperform." Swiss Life Holding advanced 1.86%, SIG Group gained 1.51%, and Partners Group closed up 1.26%.
Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Re, Sandoz Group and Lindt & Spruengli gained 0.9 to 1.2%.
Swatch Group shares fell 4.52%. Richemont closed down 2.65%, while Sika and Straumann Holding ended lower by 1.34% and 1.18%, respectively.
Alcon, Geberit, Givaudan, Schindler Ps and Julius Baer lost 0.4 to 0.7%.
On the economic front, Switzerland's procure.ch Manufacturing PMI edged down to 48.4 in December 2024 from 48.5 in the previous month, slightly above market forecasts of 48.3.
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