(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market stayed positive on Wednesday save for a few minutes at the start and a very brief while around mid morning, as the undertone remained firm amid optimism about interest rate cuts by several central banks, including the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark SMI ended up by 73 points or 0.6% at 12,333.93, after scaling a low of 12,208.58 and a high of 12,357.61 intraday.
Roche Holding climbed about 5.8%. The company announced that a new weight-loss pill under development achieved positive results in an early stage clinical trial.
Swatch Group gained nearly 2.5%, and Nestle ended 1.1% up.
SIG Group and Straumann Holding ended higher by 0.82% and 0.61%, respectively. Swisscom ended modestly higher.
VAT Group ended down 5.27%. Logitech International ended lower by 2.39%. Givaudan, Partners Group, Richemont, Julius Baer, Sonova, UBS Group, Kuehne + Nagel and ABB lost 1 to 1.8%. Lonza Group, SGS, Holcim and Swiss Re also closed weak.
