Swiss Market Ends On Buoyant Note

(RTTNews) - Swiss stocks opened on a bright note on Wednesday and stayed firm right through the trading session as news about the U.S. and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire lifted sentiment across global markets.

The oil's sharp plunge helped ease concerns about inflation and economic growth, rendering the mood quite bullish.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday evening that he has agreed to suspend the bombing and attack on Iran for a period of two weeks subject to Tehran agreeing to the complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump added that the U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran that he believes is a "workable basis on which to negotiate" and the ceasefire will allow the agreement to be finalized and consummated.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened for a period of two weeks if the attacks against Iran are halted.

The benchmark SMI ended with a strong gain of 323.08 points or 2.53% at 13,113.43 after scaling a low of 12,973.84 and a high of 13,270.36 intraday.

All the components of the SMI index ended in green. ABB closed nearly 8% up, while Richemont and VAT Group gained 7.9% and 7.81%, respectively.

Holcim rallied 6.77%, and Sika gained about 5.8%. Julius Baer, Amrize, Straumann Holding and Geberit gained 4.6%-5.2%.

UBS Group, Givaudan, Sandoz Group, SGS, Novartis, Sonova, Alcon Group, Partners Group, Logitech International, Swiss Life Holding, Schindler Ps and Lonza Group also posted impressive gains.

In economic news, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed Switzerland's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down to 3.1% in March from 3.2% in each of the previous two months. The latest reading came in slightly below market expectations of 3.2%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless rate remained unchanged at 3.0% in March.