BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss market saw a brief bright spell in positive territory Thursday morning after a roughly flat start, but drifted down into the red subsequently and eventually ended the session with modest gains.
It was a sluggish ride for most of the key stocks as investors largely staged cautious ahead of the long weekend, digesting news about coronavirus pandemic, and reacting to the U.S. Federal Reserve's massive stimulus program.
The benchmark SMI ended up 20.44 points, or 0.22%, at 9,452.83. The index, which rose to 9,550.37, dropped to a low of 9,321.93 around mid afternoon.
Credit Suisse and UBS Group ended stronger by 5.6% and 4.4%, respectively. Both Credit Suisse and UBS announced that they have decided to pay out part of their dividend for 2019 later this year after financial markets regulator FINMA had criticised their decision to maintain a full payout during the coronavirus crisis.
FINMA said later that it welcomed a decision by UBS and Credit Suisse to pay out half of their dividends for 2019 in the fourth quarter of 2020 despite their strong capital decisions.
Swiss Re ended up 3.3%, while Sika and LafargeHolcim both gained nearly 3%. Swiss Life Holding, ABB and Alcon gained 2 to 2.6%, while Adecco and Zurich Insurance Group ended higher by 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Nestle, Geberit and Roche Holding ended sharply lower.
The Swiss government said on Wednesday that it plans to ease restrictions now in place to combat the new coronavirus starting at the end of April. The government added that the economic damage from the epidemic could be the worst on record.
Optimism that the coronavirus infection curve is beginning to bend down in several parts of the continent contributed to the gains in the major markets in Europe.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's massive $2.3 trillion stimulus plan to help limit the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the world's largest economy helped as well.
The pan European Stoxx 600 surged up 1.57%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed up 2.9%, Germany's DAX gained 2.24% and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.44%.
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