Swiss Market Ends On Strong Note; UBS, Credit Suisse Rise Sharply

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a strong note on Tuesday, in line with European markets, as investors continued to cheer the steps taken by governments and central banks to rescue troubled U.S. and European banks.

Investors also digested Swiss exports data.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 148.94 points or 1.4% at 10,792.58, off the day's high of 10,814.48.

UBS Group shares soared 12.1% and Credit Suisse surged 7.3%. On Sunday, UBS agreed to take over the Credit Suisse in an all-share deal worth $3.25 billion under pressure from the Swiss authorities.

Credit Suisse, the second largest in Switzerland, had been facing issues due to scandals, irregularities and management troubles for a long time.

Partners Group gained nearly 7%. Swiss Life Holding and Swiss Re both ended higher by about 4%.

Richemont, Zurich Insurance Group, Holcim and ABB gained 1.8 to 3%. Alcon and Sika also ended sharply higher.

Givaudan drifted down 2.86% and Nestle shed nearly 1%.

In the Mid Price Index, Helvetia and Swatch Group gained 4.5% and 4.05%, respectively. Temenos Group surged 3.4% and Julius Baer gained 3.15%.

Baloise Holding climbed 3.5% and Georg Fischer gained 2.2%, while Dufry surged nearly 2%. AMS, VAT Group, Zur Rose and Kuehne & Nagel also ended with notable gains.

Bachem Holding drifted down 2.6%. Tecan Group ended lower by about 1.1%.

Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Swiss exports fell by a real 2.7% month-on-month in February, reversing a 2.6% rise in the previous month. Imports also dropped 0.5% over the month, in contrast to a 0.1% slight gain in January.

In nominal terms, exports declined 1.1% from a month ago, while imports rose for the second straight month by 1.3%.

Shipments of vehicles contracted the most by 10.5% monthly in February, and those of chemical and pharmaceutical products dipped 6.5%. Exports of paper and graphic products logged a negative growth of 2.1%.

Meanwhile, the foreign demand for jewelry items grew sharply by 12.9%.

Due to lower exports, the trade surplus shrank to CHF 2.48 billion in February from CHF 2.97 billion in the previous month.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports grew 12.2% year-on-year to CHF 2.2 billion in February.