On Monday, Swiss stocks closed with a marginal increase following a tepid trading session, as investors held back from making significant moves due to a lack of driving factors. This was against a backdrop of marginally decreased consumer confidence in Switzerland for the month of April.
The primary Swiss Market Index (SMI) fluctuated between 11,729.47 and 11,772.82, ultimately closing at 11,768.08 with a minor gain of 14.38 points or 0.12%.
Companies like Logitech International, ABB, Givaudan, Roche Holdings, Lindt & Spruengli, Alcon and Swisscom experienced gains of between 1% and 1.5%. Straumann Holding saw an increase of close to 1%, while Novartis and UBS Group edged up by 0.82% and 0.63% respectively.
On the other hand, Holcim saw a decline of over 4%. Lonza Group, VAT Group and Swatch Group fell by 1.8 to 1.9%. Additionally, Partners Group dropped by 1.59%, while Swiss Re, SGS, Sonova, Julius Baer, Sandoz Group and SIG Group saw a decrease of 0.7 to 1.2%.
Survey data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) indicated that Swiss consumer confidence remained largely steady in April. The consumer confidence index was essentially unchanged, registering -38.1 in April as compared to March's 8-month high of -38.0. Moreover, the consumer sentiment index continued to sit below the long-term average.
Inspecting the primary four sub-components revealed an improvement in consumer expectations about the general economic situation for the upcoming year; the corresponding index rose to -21.2 from -24.3 in April. Similarly, the index tracking major purchase intentions improved to -37.2 from -40.0.
Nonetheless, households demonstrated increased pessimism regarding their personal financial situation, which declined to -36.2 from -33.0. Similarly, perceptions of the recent economic condition also deteriorated, falling from -53.4 to -57.6.
