BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland benchmark SMI ended on a firm note on Tuesday as investors picked up shares from across several sectors, after data showed China's manufacturing activity to have expanded substantially in the month of March.
The benchmark SMI ended up 137.53 points, or 1.5%, at 9,311.92, after scaling a high of 9,370.85 and a low of 9,155.11 in the session.
On Monday, the SMI gained almost 2%.
Most of the markets across Europe closed with strong gains. Among the major indices, the U.K.'s FTSE surged up 1.95%, Germany's DAX gained 1.22% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.4%. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended up 1.65%.
Swiss Re, the biggest gainer in the SMI, ended more than 7% up. Zurich Insurance Group, Adecco and LafargeHolcim gained 4 to 4.3%.
Swatch Group shares gained about 3%, while Swiss Life Holding, ABB, Novartis, Richemont and Lonza Group gained 2 to 2.5%.
Roche Holding ended stronger by 1.85%, while Geberit, Givaudan, Sika and Alcon gained 1.2 to 1.6%.
In the midcap section, Lindt & Spruengli gained about 3.2%. The company said it is unlikely to grow organic sales by 5-7% this year as the coronavirus epidemic has hit sales. It however, confirmed its mid- to long-term growth targets and its dividend, including the special dividend proposed for the group anniversary.
Helvetia and Lindt & Sp Ps gained 8.2% and 7.5%, respectively. Vifor Pharma gained about 5%. Flughafen Zurich, Schindler Holding, Georg Fischer, OC Oerlikon Corp, PSP Swiss Property, AMS and Bucher Industries ended higher by 3 to 4%, while Temenos Group gained 2.75%.
In economic news, Switzerland's retail trade unexpectedly increased 0.3% from a year earlier in February 2020. Sales were expected to drop 0.7% in the month. Sales of food, beverages, tobacco jumped 4.7%, while non-food trade dropped 1.5%.
Retail Sales were up 0.4% in February, compared to sales in January 2020.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX