BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market shrugged off a weak start and gained in strength on Tuesday, tracking cues from other markets in Europe. A rally on Wall Street amid some positive earnings updates helped as well in lifting sentiment.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 111.90 points or 1.02% at 11,122.08. The index, which dropped to 10,939.51 earlier in the day, rose to a high of 11,143.06 before paring some gains.
Richemont rallied more than 4%. Credit Suisse surged 2.81%, Holcim gained about 2.5%, while Lonza Group and Partners Group moved up 2.1% and 2%, respectively.
Sika gained 1.77%, Logitech, ABB and Novartis gained nearly 1.5%, while Alcon and Givaudan both gained a little over 1%.
SGS shares drifted down nearly 2.4%. Swisscom ended with a modest loss.
In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Swatch Group climbed 4.3%. Georg Fischer, Flughafen Zurich, Dufry and VAT Group advanced 2.85 to 3.45%.
Adecco, Ems Chemie Holding, Clariant, AMS, Temenos Group, Zur Rose, Julius Baer and Barry Callebaut also closed with strong gains.
Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's trade surplus decreased in the second quarter, as imports rose and exports fell, data from the
Exports fell 0.5% sequentially in the June quarter, reversing a 1.5% rebound in the March quarter. Meanwhile, imports logged 0.6% growth in the second quarter, after a 1.1% gain in the previous quarter.
The trade surplus shrank to CHF 7.612 billion in the June quarter from CHF 8.376 billion in the previous three-month period.
In nominal terms, exports rose 0.9% sequentially in the June quarter. At the same time, imports grew at a much faster pace of 2.4%.
On a monthly basis, exports rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in June, slower than the 2.9% growth in May, while imports declined 1% from May, when they increased sharply by 7.7%.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports grew 8.1% year-on-year in June. In the first half of this year, watch exports totaled CHF 11.9 billion, a 11.9% increase from the same period last year, the data showed.
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