BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland market ended on a strong note on Friday as stocks kept moving higher and higher during the day's session thanks to sustained buying support amid bets several central banks will start cutting interest rates soon.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 130.96 points or 1.1% at 12,000.86.
Swiss Re and Novartis gained 2.27% and 2.13%, respectively. Kuehne & Nagel climbed 1.71%, while Swisscom, Nestle, Swatch Group and UBS Group gained 1.35 to 1.6%.
Roche Holdings, Sandoz Group and Swiss Life Holding advanced 1 to 1.2%. Zurich Insurance Group, Richemont, Givaudan and SGS also ended notably higher.
Sika, SIG Group, Geberit and Holcim ended lower by 1 to 1.27%. Straumann Holding and Lonza Group also closed weak.
Meyer Burger Tech plunged nearly 8%. Belimo Holding ended 2.64% down. Georg Fischer and Barry Callebaut ended lower by a little over 1%.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed retail sales in Switzerland grew 2.7% year-on-year in April, recovering from an upwardly revised 0.2% fall in March. Compared to the previous month, retail sales increased 0.2% in April, rebounding from a downwardly revised 0.3% drop in the prior month.
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