BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market edged up marginally after a choppy session on Wednesday even as most of the markets across Europe closed with strong gains amid optimism about a post-Brexit trade deal.
The mood in the market was largely cautious due to concerns about rising coronavirus cases and the imposition of a month-long clampdown on public life.
Meanwhile, Switzerland has begun administering Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The benchmark SMI, which slid to 10,376,78 after a sluggish start, rose to a high of 10,439.94 later on in the session, before finally settling at 10,411.92 with a small gain of 8.55 points or 0.08%.
The SMI ended nearly 1% up on Tuesday, rebounding well after sliding more than 2% a session earlier.
Credit Suisse climbed about 3.6% and UBS Group shares gained 2.6%. Partners Group, Swiss Re and Swiss Life Holding closed stronger by 1.4 to 1.65%.
Roche Holding ended lower by 0.85%. The drugmaker said that the European Commission has approved Phesgo for the treatment of early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.
Lonza Group shed about 1.1%, while Nestle, Sika and Geberit ended lower by 0.4 to 0.6%.
In the midcap section, Dufry rallied 5.2%. Helvetia and Julius Baer firmed up 3.15% and 3%, respectively, while AMS and Cembra Money Bank gained 1.85% and 1.75%, respectively.
Flughafen Zurich, Adecco, Baloise Holding, Clariant and SIG Combibloc also ended notably higher.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX