BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a bright note on Tuesday, extending gains from previous session, amid optimism about additional U.S. stimulus, greater momentum in vaccination rollout and on easing concerns about retail trading frenzy.
For the second straight day, several markets across Europe closed notably higher. The mood in Asian and the U.S. markets also was fairly bullish.
The benchmark SMI, which rose to 10,857.05 around mid morning, ended the session with a gain of 63.35 points or 0.59% at 10,803.57.
Swatch Group, Swiss Life Holding and Credit Suisse gained 2.4 to 2.9%. Alcon, LafargeHolcim, Richemont and ABB ended higher by 2 to 2.2%, while Swiss Re and UBS Group gained 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Partners Group, Sika, Zurich Insurance Group and SGS also ended notably higher, while Givaudan ended lower by about 1.6%.
Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Julius Baer gained more than 4.5%. According to reports, Julius Baer is considering large scale M&A deals in the near future.
The bank's CEO Philipp Rickenbacher said in an earnings call on Monday that a deal close to CHF 100bn ($118bn) in assets for the bank 'could be a reality, again, in the future. We will see.'
Logitech and OC Oerlikon Corp gained 3.8% and 3.7%, respectively, while AMS, Sonova, Straumann Holding, Flughafen Zurich and Georg Fisher moved up 2 to 3%.
Among the other major markets in Europe, Germany and France ended sharply higher, with their benchmark indices DAX and CAC 40 climbing 1.56% and 1.86%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.78% and the pan European Stoxx 600 ended 1.29% up.
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