Swiss Market Ends On Bright Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market closed on a strong note on Friday like several other markets in Europe, as slightly easing geopolitical tensions and a drop in oil prices helped underpin sentiment.

The benchmark SMI settled with a gain of 150.40 points or 1.1% at 13,787.40, after moving in a tight range between 13,723.97 and 13,811.46.

Sonova climbed 3.6%. UBS Group, SGS and Straumann Holding moved up 2.76%, 2.46% and 2.3%, respectively. Schindler Ps gained a little over 2%.

Kuehne + Nagel, Alcon, Sika, Lonza Group, Roche, Galderma Group, Swiss Re, Novartis, Richemont, ABB, Holcim, Lindt & Spruengli, Geberit and Givaudan also closed with impressive gains.

Logitech International dropped about 2.5%. Swisscom drifted down 2.25%, while Helvetia Baloise Holding and VAT Group ended lower by 0.68% and 0.3%, respectively.

A report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Switzerland's consumer confidence index edged up to -36 in September from -37 in the same month a year earlier, pointing to an improvement in household confidence but coming in below market expectations of -31.