BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market climbed to a fresh all-time high on Monday, and despite paring some gains past mid-afternoon, ended the session on a bright note.
Optimism about growth offset concerns about surging coronvirus cases in Europe and elsewhere.
The benchmark SMI, which spurted to 12,997.15, ended the session with a gain of 63.51 points or 0.49% at 12,939.17.
Credit Suisse rallied nearly 2.5%. Swiss Life Holding gained 2.15%. Zurich Insurance Group shares climbed 1.55% after the company announced that its Italian unit Zurich Investments Life S.p.A. has agreed to sell its life and pension back book to the Portuguese insurance company GamaLife - Companhia de Seguros de Vida, S.A.
Swiss Re, Nestle, UBS Group, Holcim and ABB ended higher by 1.1 to 1.5%. Logitech, Richemont and Swisscom ended with modest gains.
Lonza Group and Alcon declined 1.63% and 1.34%, respectively. Partners Group shed about 0.9%.
In the Mid Price Index, Dufry gained 6.75%. AMS moved up 4.16% and VAT Group ended stronger by 3.35%. Flughafen Zurich and Baloise Holding gained 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively.
Georg Fischer, Helvetia, Zur Rose, Clariant, Straumann Holding and Cembra Money Bank also ended sharply higher.
Tecan Group shares tumbled more than 7%. SIG Combibloc declined 4.4% and Kuehne & Nagel ended lower by 1.29%.
In economic news, the procure.ch and Credit Suisse Manufacturing PMI for Switzerland edged up to 62.7 in December of 2021 from 62.5 in the previous month, above market expectations of 61.
In coronavirus news, Switzerland is currently undergoing a fifth wave of the pandemic, with the number of new daily coronavirus infections reaching new highs. On Friday, the government decided not to introduce any new pandemic measures for the time being after it tightened restrictions for the unvaccinated on December 17. However, the government says a package of additional measures could be activated quickly in the event of a deterioration in the health situation.
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