BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended modestly higher on Friday, bucking the largely weak trend seen across Europe.
The market got off to a weak start, but recovered gradually and emerged into positive territory past noon and stayed fairly steady till the closing bell.
The benchmark SMI, which hit a new all-time high at 12,146.68, ended the session with a gain of 30.08 points or 0.25% at 12,116.82.
Lonza Group shares gained nearly 2%. Nestle, Givaudan and Roche Holding advanced 0.8 to 1%. Novartis, Swisscom and Sika posted modest gains.
Swiss Re ended lower by about 3.2%. Holcim, ABB, Swatch Group, Richemont and Partners Group shed 0.6 to 1.1%.
Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Ems Chemie Holding, Logitech, Kuehne & Nagel, Galenica Sante and SIG Combibloc gained 0.8 to 1.4%. Tecan Group, Straumann Holding, Schindler Ps and Sonova also closed on firm note.
Dufry declined more than 4% and Adecco ended 3.2% down, while Flughafen Zurich closed lower by about 1.5%. Clariant, Baloise Holding, AMS and Helvetia lost 0.8 to 1%.
In economic new, a report from Swiss Economic Institute said the KOF Economic barometer in Switzerland fell to 129.8 in July, from a downwardly revised 133.2 in June. It is the second consecutive fall from a record value in May but the barometer remained clearly above the long-term average of 99.3.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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