Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market closed on a firm note on Thursday despite lingering concerns about Middle East tensions, and data showing a sharp drop in Swiss industrial production in the first quarter.

The benchmark SMI, which slipped into the red about an hour past noon and stayed weak for the next few hours, emerged above the flat line thereafter to eventually settle with a gain of 47.14 points or 0.35% at 13,446.43.

Sika climbed nearly 2%. Kuehne + Nagel moved up 1.4%, while Straumann Holding, ABB and Geberit gained 1%-1.2%.

Givaudan, Swiss Life Holding, Roche, Novartis, Logitech International, Sonova, UBS Group and Julius Baer posted moderate gains.

Swiss Re drifted down 3.2%. Helvetia Baloise Holding ended down by 1.84%. VAT Group, Sandoz Group, Schindler Ps and Partners Group lost more than 1%. Swisscom also ended notably lower.

On the economic front, Switzerland's industrial production declined at the steepest pace in nearly six years, provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office showed.

Industrial production plunged 7.1% year-over-year in the first quarter, much faster than the 0.4% drop in the fourth quarter. Further, this was the fastest decrease since the second quarter of 2020.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, industrial output dropped 1.6% quarterly, after falling 2.9% in the previous quarter.