Swiss stocks delivered an impressive performance on Tuesday, driven by positive performance indicators from other key markets in the region. This was coupled with expectations that major central banks would eventually reduce interest rates.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI), stayed robust throughout the trading day, ending with a gain of 141.38 points, or 1.25%, at 11,469.15. Despite reaching an early afternoon high of 11,515.09, it did recede slightly as the day unfolded.
Among the high performers, Lonza Group surged close to 4%. Partners Group made gains of approximately 3.25%, while VAT Group, Swiss Re, Roche Holdings, and Julius Baer saw increases between 2.1% and 2.7%.
Pharmaceutical company Novartis went up by 1.81% after announcing updated full-year guidance, which reflects the current progress and outlook of the company. Novartis is forecasting a net sales growth in the high-single to low-double-digit range, marking an improvement from the previous mid-single-digit growth projection.
Other companies that observed increased share prices range from 1.3% to 2%, including Swiss Life Holding, Holcim, Richemont, Lindt Sprungli, UBS Group, Geberit, and Straumann Holding.
Relatively moderate gains were observed in Logitech International, ABB, Schindler Ps, Givaudan, Alcon, SIG Group and Sonova.
Contrarily, transport company Kuehne & Nagel saw its stock fall close to 5% following a reported 40% deduction in its first-quarter earnings.
Additionally, Sandoz Group saw a decrease of 1.4%, while SGS and Swisscom shares dropped by 0.9% and 0.77% respectively.
