On Monday, the Swiss market briefly dipped into the red during early transactions but managed a swift recovery, ending the trading day on a positive note.
The benchmark SMI ended the day up by 51.35 points, or 0.45%, closing at 11,547.14. Over the course of the day, the index fluctuated between a low of 11,487.41 and a high of 11,5461.38.
Lonza Group and Sonova saw respective gains of 2.05% and 1.94%. Swiss Life Holding also saw an uptick, rising by 1.42%. Other companies, including Richemont, Logitech International, ABB, Partners Group, Givaudan, Geberit, Sika, and Holcim, saw increases ranging between 0.5 and 1%.
Swisscom, the only SMI component to close lower, ended the session down by 0.86%.
In the Mid Price Index, ams OSRAM AG and Clariant saw gains of 2.88% and 2.85% respectively. Both Adecco and Baloise Holding finished 2% higher.
Other gainers included Julius Baer, Avolta, BKW, Straumann Holding, Temenos Group, and VAT Group, with advances ranging from 1 to 4.5%.
However, not all companies fared well, with Meyer Burger Tech falling by 10.7%. Other losers included PSP Swiss Property, which dropped about 3%, and SGS and SIG Group, both of which shed approximately 1%.
In economic news, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) revealed that Switzerland's unemployment rate remained steady in March. The unadjusted unemployment rate for the month was the same as February's, 2.4%. The jobless rate this time last year was lower at 2%.
The data also showed a slight increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, ticking up from 2.2% in February to 2.3% in March.
