BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a buoyant note on Wednesday, extending gains to a second straight session thanks to fairly strong manufacturing sector data from the U.S., China and several other countries from across the world.
Optimism about potential coronavirus vaccines and expectations of additional stimulus from central banks and governments to boost growth contributed as well to the upbeat mood in the market.
The benchmark SMI ended higher by 195.99 points or 1.92% at 10,384.84. The index, which opened with a positive gap of more than 70 points at 10,262.26, hit a high of 10,415.62 in the session.
On Tuesday, the SMI ended with a gain of 53.29 points or 0.53% at 10,188.85, snapping a three-day losing streak.
All the constituents of the SMI index ended in green. Roche Holding surged up 3.2% and Lonza Group advanced 2.8%. Alcon and Swatch Group both ended higher by about 2.5%.
Richemont, SGS, Givaudan, Novartis, Sika, Swiss Re, UBS Group, Swisscom, Zurich Insurance Group, Nestle and Geberit gained 1.5 to 2.4%.
Credit Suisse gained nearly 1% despite some adverse news. According to reports, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has opened enforcement proceedings against the Swiss bank in the 2019 spying affair.
Among midcap stocks, AMS and Sonova both moved up by over 4%. PSP Swiss Property, Straumann Holding, Temenos Group, Swiss Prime Site, Flughafen Zurich and VAT Group gained 1.5 to 2.5%.
Among the other major indices in Europe, the pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.66%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 1.35%, France's CAC jumped 1.9% and Germany's DAX rose 2.07%.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX