\n<\/p>\n
The Switzerland stock market closed on a positive note on Tuesday, in line with the trend seen across Europe, as optimism about economic recovery outweighed concerns about virus spread and slowdown in vaccine rollouts.<\/p>\n
The benchmark SMI, which stayed in positive territory save for a very brief while around mid afternoon, ended the session with a gain of 31.82 points or 0.29% at 11,121.42. The index touched a low of 11,079.88 and a high of 11,138.11 in the session.<\/p>\n
Swatch Group shares gained nearly 2.5%. Alcon moved up 2.4%. LafargeHolcim and Partners Group both ended higher by about 1.7%, while Zurich Insurance Group, UBS Group, Sika, Swiss Life Holding, Geberit and Nestle gained 0.7 to 1.2%.<\/p>\n
Credit Suisse, which plunged 14% on Monday after a profit warning, slid more than 3% today. Lonza Group ended 2.85% down, while Novartis and Roche Holding ended lower by 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.<\/p>\n
Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry and Straumann Holding gained about 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Flughafen Zurich, Adecco, Georg Fischer, Clariant, OC Oerlikon Corp and Kuehne & Nagel gained 1.5 to 2.6%.<\/p>\n
Lindt & Spruengli, Sonova and AMS ended lower by 0.9 to 1.1%.<\/p>\n
In economic news, a measure signaling future turning points in the Swiss economy<\/span> climbed to its highest in over a decade in March, suggesting a faster pace of economic recovery in the coming months.<\/p>\n The economic barometer rose to 117.8 from a revised 102.6 in February, the KOF Economic Institute said Tuesday. Economists had expected the index to climb to 104.6.<\/p>\n The latest score was markedly above its long-term average of 100.<\/p>\n The latest improvement in the index was largely due to the indicators from the manufacturing industry. The other groups of indicators, both for domestic and foreign demand, all signal a positive development, albeit significantly weaker, the think tank said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n