Swiss Market Ends Marginally Higher After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended marginally up on Wednesday after a choppy session, as investors largely refrained from making significant moves ahead of the central bank's policy announcement on Thursday.

The Bank of England's interest rate decision is also due on Thursday.

The Swiss National Bank is widely expected to cut its key policy rate by another 25 basis points to 1.25%.

The benchmark SMI, which moved in a very narrow range between 12,024.00 and 12,068.12, ended with a small gain of 13.63 points or 0.11% at 12,060.24.

Sandoz Group climbed 1.71%. SIG Group gained about 1.2%. Kuehne & Nagel, Straumann Holding, Novartis, Roche Holding, Holcim and Zurich Insurance Group ended higher by 0.6 to 1%.

Swisscom, Lindt & Spruengli, Sika and Swiss Re posted modest gains.

Julius Baer drifted down more than 2%. According to reports, the company's discussions with fellow Swiss private lender EFG International over a potential merger ended after Finma raised its concerns about the 15 billion-franc tie-up.

Geberit, Schindler Ps, Givaudan and SGS lost 0.9 to 1.25%. Logitech International, Lonza Group, ABB and Sonova also closed weak.