BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland market ended on a bright note on Thursday with the mood remaining quite upbeat following the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rate.
The ECB lowered its key interest rates by 25 basis points for the first time since September 2019, and raised the outlook for inflation.
Investors also digested the nation's unemployment data.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 91.23 points or 0.75% at 12,241.25, slightly off the day's high of 12,246.52.
Logitech International, Straumann Holding, Richemont, SGS, UBS Group and Lonza Group gained 1.4 to 2%.
Lindt & Spruengli, Sandoz Group, Swiss Life Holding, Kuehne & Nagel, Zurich Insurance Group, Alcon, ABB, Roche Holding, Holcim and Nestle gained 0.6 to 1.3%.
Temenos Group, Avolta, Galenica Sante and Flughafen Zurich closed notably higher.
Julius Baer tumbled 5.33%. Partners Group shed nearly 2%. SIG Group and Schindler Ps ended lower by 0.74% and 0.51%, respectively.
Data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Switzerland's unemployment rate remained stable in May after falling slightly in the previous month.
The unadjusted unemployment rate came in at 2.3% in May, the same as in April, the data said. That was in line with expectations. In the corresponding month last year, the jobless rate was 1.9%.
The youth unemployment rate, which is applied to the 15-24 age group, remained stable at 2% in May. Data also showed that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose to 2.4% from 2.3%.
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