Swiss Market Closes On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market closed on a firm note on Wednesday, in line with the trend across Europe, as earnings optimism continued to outweigh worries about inflation and supply-chain bottlenecks.

The benchmark SMI, which moved in a tight band between 11,995.20 and 12,062.20, ended with a gain of 70.41 points or 0.59% at 12,013.15.

Nestle rallied 2.7% after reporting higher sales for the first nine months of the year. The company has also lifted its full-year guidance for organic sales growth.

Lonza Group climbed about 1.7%, while Novartis and Zurich Insurance Group gained 1.34% and 1.27%, respectively. Partners Group and Swisscom both gained nearly 1%.

ABB, Richemont, UBS Group, Swiss Re and Geberit gained 0.4 to 0.7%.

Credit Suisse declined 1.7% and Roche Holding shed about 1.6%. Sika ended lower by nearly 0.5%.

Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Zur Rose gained 2.8%, SIG Combibloc climbed 1.65%, Sonova advanced 1.15% and VAT Group surged up 1.05%.

BB Biotech, AMS, Ems Chemie Holding, Helvetia and Barry Callebaut posted moderate gains.

On the other hand, Dufry, Kuehne & Nagel, Georg Fischer, Temenos Group, PSP Swiss Property and Flughafen Zurich shed 1 to 4%.