BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a strong note on Thursday amid continued optimism about global economic recovery despite rising coronavirus cases and slow vaccination drive in several places across the world.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 78.70 points or 0.71% at 11,206.88, the day's high.
Partners Group shares gained nearly 2%. Givaudan climbed 1.7%, Roche Holding gained 1.65% and Alcon gained 1.57%. Nestle and SGS moved up by 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
ABB gained about 0.75% after launching a new share buyback program. Lonza Group, Sika and Novartis posted modest gains.
Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance Group, Swatch Group and LafargeHolcim closed lower by 0.6 to 1%.
In the Mid Price Section, Lindt & Spruengli surged up 3.7% and Tecan Group gained 3.1%, while Straumann Holding, SIG Combibloc, VAT Group, Galenica Sante, Logitech and Temenos Group gained 1.3 to 2%.
Adecco, Barry Callebaut and Kuehne & Nagel also ended notably higher.
Among the losers, Dufry ended lower by about 3.3%, AMS shed nearly 2% and OC Oerlikon Corp lost 1.6%. Clariant, BB Biotech, Helvetia and Vifor Pharma ended down 0.9 to 1.1%.
Data released by Swiss National Bank showed foreign exchange reserves in Switzerland increased to CHF 930.48 billion in March from CHF 914.21 billion in February of 2021.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX