Swiss Market Ends Higher Again

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a firm note on Friday, in line with markets across Europe, as investors indulged in some buying amid easing concerns about monetary policy tightening and inflation, and some encouraging earnings updates from top U.S. banks.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 83.91 points or 0.75% at 11,342.86. The index, which opened marginally up at 11,268.31, climbed to a high of 11,368.38 in the session.

Richemont rallied 3.21%. Logitech surged 2.55%, ABB climbed 2.17% and UBS Group gained 2.1%.

Partners Group, Credit Suisse, Holcim, Sika, Nestle, Geberit and Swiss Life Holding gained 1 to 1.7%.

Sonova drifted down 1.52%. Zurich Insurance Group ended lower by 1.36%.

In the Mid Price Index, Julius Baer ended stronger by 4%. Schindler Ps and Schindler Holding both gained nearly 2.6%. AMS, Adecco, Georg Fischer and Temenos Group gained 1.3 to 1.8%.

Kuehne & Nagel and SGS ended lower by about 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Barry Callebaut ended 0.81% down.

In economic news, Switzerland's producer and import price inflation eased further in March to the lowest level in almost two years, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Friday.

Producer and import prices rose 2.1% year-on-year in March, slower than the 2.7% increase in the previous month. Further, this was the weakest rate of increase since April 2021, when prices had risen 1.8%.

The producer price index climbed 2.7% annually in March, and import prices registered an increase of 1%.

On a monthly basis, producer and import prices rebounded 0.2% from February, when they dropped by 0.2%.

Data released last week showed that Switzerland's consumer price inflation eased to a 3-month low of 2.9%.