BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market closed on a firm note on Thursday, tracking gains in global markets after the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by 50 points. The U.S. central bank also signaled more reductions in coming months.
The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 76 points or 0.63% at 12,058.30. The index once again moved in a very narrow range, scaling a low of 12,034.39 and a high of 12,122.87 in the session.
VAT Group, Sika and Partners Group climbed 3.32%, 3.14% and 3.6%, respectively. SIG Group gained 2.79% and Swatch Group ended 2.54% up.
Swatch Group, Straumann Holding, Holcim, ABB and Geberit gained 2 to 2.2%. Alcon, Julius Baer, UBS Group, Lonza Group and Logitech International ended higher by 1.2 to 1.8%, while Swiss Life Holding advanced nearly 1%.
Swisscom, SGS, Kuehne + Nagel and Sandoz Group closed weak.
The Swiss economy is set to expand considerably below its average this year and inflation is projected to continue to ease, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, said today.
The Federal Government Expert Group on Business Cycles forecast the economy to grow 1.2% this year, which was unchanged from the previous outlook. This was below-average growth seen in 2023.
As global economic conditions improve gradually, economic growth is likely to strengthen next year on exports and investments, SECO said. GDP growth is seen at 1.6% in 2025 compared to the prior forecast of 1.7%.
The SECO downgraded its inflation outlook for 2024 to 1.2% from 1.4%. Inflation is projected to fall further down to 0.7% in 2025 compared to June's forecast of 1.1%.
Switzerland's foreign trade surplus decreased somewhat in August amid continued fall in exports. The trade surplus dropped to CHF 3.9 billion in August from CHF 4.1 billion in July. In real terms, exports fell 0.2% over the month, though slower than the 1.5% decrease in July. Imports slid 0.8% versus a 0.4% decline in the prior month.
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