Swiss Market Ends Moderately Lower

(RTTNews) - After a positive start and a subsequent mild setback, the Switzerland market recovered and stayed firm till a little past mid afternoon on Thursday, but turned weak and ended the day's session moderately lower.

Investors digested the monetary policy moves of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, and reports about the U.S. and the U.K. striking a trade deal.

The benchmark SMI ended lower by 52.04 points or 0.43% at 12,061.72, the day's low. The index climbed to a high of 12,188.89 about a couple of hours past noon.

Adecco soared 11.7% after upbeat first-quarter results. The company's net income for the quarter was €60 million, up from an expected €47 million. The firm reported sales worth €5,573 million in the first-quarter, surpassing the forecast of €5,467 million.

Straumann Holding climbed about 4.1%, while VAT Group and Logitech International gained 3.67% and 3.6%, respectively. Partners Group gained about 2.5%.

Julius Baer, ABB, Alcon, Sandoz Group, SGS, UBS Group, Holcim, Geberit, Swatch Group, Richemont and Sika ended higher by 1 to 2%.

Roche Holding closed lower by 2.37%. Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Re both ended down by about 1.7%.

Nestle, Lonza Group, Swisscom, Lindt & Spruengli and Novartis also closed on weak note.

On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled the framework of a trade agreement with the U.K., marking the first deal since he announced new tariffs on U.S. trade partners in early April.

While details of the deal were not immediately clear, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that the agreement would raise $6 billion in external revenue from 10% on tariffs on U.K. exports and create $5 billion in new export opportunities for U.S. ranchers, farmers and producers.

"This Deal shows that if you respect America, and bring serious proposals to the table, America is OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Many more to come — STAY TUNED!" Trump said.