BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Swiss stocks opened on a slightly weak note on Wednesday, but recovered soon and then stayed firm right till the end of the day's session to close modestly higher.
The mood was a bit cautious with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve's policy announcement later in the day, and the Swiss National Bank's policy meeting on Thursday.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 40.83 points or 0.35% at 11,618.63. The index, which edged down to 11,558.50 in early trades, touched a high of 11,635.44 in the session.
Lonza Group climbed about 5.7%. Lonza said it would buy one of the world's largest manufacturing sites for biologic drugs in California from drugmaker Roche for $1.2 billion.
Geberit gained nearly 2%. Holcim, Sika and Swiss Life Holding ended higher by 1.31%, 1.25% and 1.2%, respectively.
Kuehne & Nagel, Roche Holding, Nestle and ABB ended with moderate gains.
Richemont drifted down by about 2.2%. UBS Group ended nearly 1% down. Sonova and Novartis closed lower by 0.7% and 0.48%, respectively.
In the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech surged 8.5%. BKW and Ems Chemie Holding ended lower by 2.65% and 2.29%, respectively.
ams OSRAM AG advanced nearly 2%. Belimo Holding, Clariant, SGS, Baloise Holding, Tecan Group and SIG Group also ended higher.
Georg Fischer ended down 3.8%. Avolta, Galenica Sante, Swatch Group, Sandoz and Schindler Ps lost 0.6 to 1%.
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