On Monday, the Swiss market, initially off to a sluggish start, rebounded strongly due to sustained buying driven by optimism regarding potential interest rate cuts from major central banks.
The benchmark SMI increased, reaching a peak of 12,180.57 before closing with a robust gain of 144.42 points, or 1.2%, at 12,157.29.
Among the top performers, Swatch Group surged by 2.56%, while Novartis and Lonza Group recorded impressive gains of 2.15% and 2.07%, respectively.
Geberit, SIG Group, and Alcon saw their shares rise between 1.7% and 1.85%. Other notable gainers included Partners Group, Julius Baer, Swisscom, UBS Group, Roche Holding, Kuehne & Nagel, Richemont, Nestle, and Logitech International, all of which appreciated by 1% to 1.5%.
Belimo Holding, Barry Callebaut, PSP Swiss Property, Swiss Prime Site, Adecco, Tecan Group, Galenica Sante, and Ems Chemie Holding also posted significant gains.
Conversely, Sandoz Group shares declined nearly 2%, SGS dipped by 1.1%, and Straumann Holding experienced a marginal drop.
Additionally, data from the Swiss National Bank revealed that Switzerland's current account surplus expanded to CHF 16.1 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up from CHF 10.8 billion in the same period of the previous year.
