(RTTNews) - Save for a few minutes at the start, the Switzerland market stayed firm on Friday to eventually close the day's session modestly higher.
The mood, however, was quite cautious with investors looking for directional clues.
The benchmark SMI ended up 27.90 points or 0.26% at 10,879.52, the day's high. The index moved in a very tight range between 10,840.90 and 10,879.52.
Kuehne & Nagel climbed about 1.3%. Swiss Life Holding gained 1.04%, Givaudan ended 0.9% up, and ABB gained 0.71%.
Swiss Re, Novartis, Partners Group, Sonova and Zurich Insurance Group gained 0.4 to 0.7%, while UBS Group ended 0.34% up.
Richemont ended down 1.28%. Logitech International drifted down 0.56%, and Lonza Group ended 0.34% down.
Clariant, Helvetia, VAT Group, AMS Osram AG, Meyer Burger Tech and Ems Chemie Holding gained 1 to 1.5%. Georg Fischer and Baloise Holding both ended nearly 1% up.
SIG Combibloc ended lower by 1.06%. Julius Baer lost nearly 1%, while Temenos Group and Swatch Group ended down 0.74% and 0.68%, respectively.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's non-farm payrolls increased 1.9% year-on-year to a record 5.465 million in the third quarter of 2023, following a 2.2% growth in the previous quarter.
