Swiss Market Closes On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - Despite a mid-session setback, the Switzerland market closed on a firm note on Monday, in line with markets across Europe, as investors reacted positively to news that the Trump administration would hold off on imposing trade tariffs for now.

The benchmark SMI recovered after a slightly weak start, turned a bit subdued after an hour past noon, and then recovered to end the day's session on a firm note.

The index closed up 46.95 points or 0.39% at 12,037.22, after scaling a low of 11,983.25 and a high of 12,055.00 intraday.

Kuehne + Nagel climbed nearly 2.5%. UBS Group gained about 2% and Lonza Group ended 1.6% up. Sika, Straumann Holding, Adecco and Alcon gained 1 to 1.2%.

Givaudan, Swatch Group, Sandoz Group, Julius Baer, Lindt & Spruengli, Partners Group, Roche Holding, ABB, Sonova and VAT Group posted moderate gains.

Belimo Holding gained about 2.3% after reporting a year-over-year increase in net sales to 943.9 million francs from 858.8 million francs.

Zurich Insurance Group closed down 1.67%. Schindler Ps declined 0.71%, and Swiss Life Holding ended lower by 0.5%.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's producer and import prices continued to decline in December, though at the slowest pace in fourteen months.

Producer and import prices dropped 0.9% year-on-year in December, following a 1.5% decline in November. Prices have been falling since May 2023. However, the latest decline was the weakest since October last year, when prices had risen the same 0.9%.

The producer price index edged down 0.1% annually in December, and import prices registered a decrease of 2.6%.

On a monthly basis, producer and import prices remained flat in December versus a 0.6% decline in November. The average annual rate of decrease in producer and import prices was 1.7% in 2024, due to lower prices for pharmaceutical products.