BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland market ended flat on Thursday after a highly lackluster session as investors stayed reluctant to make significant moves amid a lack of fresh triggers.
The benchmark SMI ended with a marginal loss of 1.40 points at 11,230.43. The index, which advanced to 11,281.46 in early trades, dropped to a low of 11,173.64 around late afternoon before recovering some lost ground.
ABB gained about 6.3%. The stock rallied as the company reported higher Operational EBITA in its first quarter and sounded optimistic about faster revenue growth in 2024.
Sika, Givaudan and UBS Group gained 0.6 to 0.8%. Alcon and Geberit edged up marginally.
Partners Group dropped 3.26%, while Richemont and Lonza Group ended lower by 2.5% and 2.34%, respectively. Logitech International, Zurich Insurance Group, Swisscom, Swiss Life Holding and Novartis lost 0.4 to 0.7%.
In the Mid Price Index, Barry Callebaut rallied about 4.3%. Sandoz climbed 2.3% and Adecco gained about 2.25%. Lindt & Spruengli N, PSP Swiss Property, Schindler Holding, BKW, Lindt & Spruengli Part, Georg Fischer, Julius Baer, Temenos Group and Avolta gained 1 to 1.75%.
Tecan Group, ams OSRAM and VAT Group ended down 2.31%, 1.61% and 1.01%, respectively. Swatch Group and Straumann Holding ended modestly lower.
On the economic front, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's foreign trade surplus increased to CHF 8.6 billion in the first quarter, up from CHF 8.1 billion in the final quarter of 2023.
In real terms, exports rebounded 0.6%, following a 0.5% drop a quarter ago. At the same time, the decline in imports softened to 0.2% from 0.7%.
In March, the trade surplus rose to CHF 2.8 billion from CHF 2.3 billion in February, data showed. In real terms, exports and imports declined by 1.7% and 2.3%, respectively, from a month earlier.
Another report from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry showed that watch exports decreased sharply by 16.1% on a yearly basis to CHF 2.0 billion in March. As a result, the decrease for the first quarter as a whole was 6.3% compared with last year.
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