Swiss stocks concluded Wednesday's trading session on a strong note, maintaining firm levels throughout the day due to sustained buying spurred by optimism regarding earnings and interest rate outlooks.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) closed with an increase of 113.83 points, or 0.95%, settling at 12,151.19, just below the day's peak of 12,153.42.
Swisscom saw a notable rise of over 2%. Roche Holdings, UBS Group, Swiss Life Holding, and Kuehne + Nagel posted gains ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%.
Other significant performers included Novartis, Partners Group, Zurich Insurance, and Lonza Group, each advancing between 1% and 1.25%. Additionally, Richemont, ABB, Nestle, Geberit, Sika, SIG Group, Swatch Group, Julius Baer, and VAT Group finished the day in positive territory.
SGS recorded a solid performance following its announcement of an agreement to acquire the France-based cosmetics clinical research organization, Institut d'Expertise Clinique. The completion of this deal is still subject to customary pre-closing conditions.
Flughafen Zurich gained approximately 1.5%, reporting an 8.1% year-over-year increase in passenger traffic to 2,808,339 for June. The operator also noted a 6.9% rise in total turnover to 57 million francs. Shares of the Zurich Airport operator closed with a gain of 1.49%.
Conversely, Logitech International fell by 3.62%, while Alcon, Givaudan, and Straumann Holdings decreased by 1.05%, 0.85%, and 0.68% respectively.
