BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland market closed on a firm note on Thursday, in line with markets across Europe, amid hopes the European Union and the U.S. will agree on a trade deal before the deadline. Positive reacting to some earnings updates also contributed to market's higher close.
The benchmark SMI closed up 51.06 points or 0.43% at 11,961.87 after scaling a low of 11,910.09 and a high of 12,000.70 intraday.
ABB soared nearly 10% after the company issued positive third-quarter comparable revenue outlook and maintained fiscal 2025 growth view, after reporting strong second-quarter results and order growth.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company projects comparable revenue growth to be at least in the mid-single digit range, and the Operational EBITA margin to remain broadly stable year-on-year, amid the uncertainty for the global business environment.
In its second quarter, net income attributable to ABB was $1.15 billion, up 5% from last year's $1.10 billion. Basic earnings per share grew 6% to $0.63 from $0.59 last year.
Swatch Group climbed 2.4% despite reporting a drop in first-half net earnings. The Group sais net earnings dropped to 3 million Swiss francs from 136 million francs, prior year. Earnings per registered share was 0.01 francs compared to 0.52 francs. Operating profit declined to 68 million francs from 204 million francs.
VAT Group gained 4.1%. Schindler Ps, Logitech International, Lindt & Spruengli, Holcim, UBS Group, Geberit, Kuehne + Nagel, Alcon and Straumann Holding gained 1.3 to 2.1%.
Swiss Re, Sika, Adecco and Partners Group climbed 0.8 to 1.1%. SGS, Givaudan and Roche Holding posted modest gains.
Richemont tumbled 3.65%. Novartis closed lower by about 1.9%.
In economic news, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's foreign trade balance rose to CHF 13.4 billion in the second quarter from CHF 13.0 billion in the first quarter. In the same period last year, the surplus was CHF 9.5 billion.
In nominal terms, exports declined 5.3% in the June quarter, reversing a 3.9% growth in the March quarter. Similarly, imports fell 7.1% versus a 7.6% surge in the first quarter.
In June, the trade surplus rose to CHF 4.3 billion from CHF 2.2 billion in May, data showed. Exports climbed by 8.6 percent monthly, while imports dropped by 7.1 percent.
Another report from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry showed that watch exports decreased 5.6 percent on a yearly basis to CHF 2.2 billion in June. There was a slight drop of 0.1 percent decline in sales during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024.
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