BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a firm note on Wednesday, extending gains from previous session, amid stock specific activity.
The market was a bit listless after a flat start, but gained in strength as the session progressed to eventually close on a bright note.
The benchmark SMI, which edged down to 10,772.63 in early trades, ended up 77.90 points, or 0.72%, at 10,859.88, after hitting a high of 10,880.44 in the session.
Lonza Group gained about 1.85%. The company announced that it signed clinical manufacturing agreement with Rocket Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the development and manufacturing for LAD-I, a phase 1/2 candidate for the treatment of Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency.
ABB gained 1.54% and Givaudan ended 1.4% up, while Roche Holding ended higher by about 1.2%.
Novartis advanced 1.23% after the company reported a 13% jump in fourth-quarter net income in constant currencies, thanks to its new Zolgensma gene therapy gaining traction and five-year-old drugs Cosentyx and Entresto adding to their blockbuster status.
UBS Group, Adecco, Credit Suisse, Geberit, LafargeHolcim and Zurich Insurance Group ended higher by 0.5 to 1%.
Richemont shares declined by about 1.1%, while SGS and Alcon shed 0.98% and 0.62%, respectively.
In the midcap index, Temenos Group rallied 5.3%
AMS and Kuehne & Nagel gained 2.7% and 2.2%, respectively. Bucher Industries, Clariant, PSP Swiss Property, Schindler Holding, EMS Chemie Holding, Straumann Holding and Vifor Pharma moved up 1 to 1.6%.
In economic news, the Swiss investor sentiment index decreased by 4.2 points to 8.3 in January 2020 from 12.5 in the previous month. On the other hand, the assessment of the current economic situation jumped to 29.2 from 8.3 in December while fell compared to 42.3 a year earlier.
Most of the markets across Europe ended higher today. Among the major indices, the U.K.'s FTSE edged up 0.04%, Germany's DAX gained 0.16% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.49%. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 0.44%.
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