On Wednesday, the Swiss market maintained a positive trajectory for most of the day, despite a brief decline at the opening and a short dip mid-morning. Investor sentiment remained buoyant, fueled by optimism surrounding potential interest rate cuts from several central banks, including the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark Swiss Market Index (SMI) closed the session with a gain of 73 points, or 0.6%, ending at 12,333.93. During intraday trading, the index fluctuated between a low of 12,208.58 and a high of 12,357.61.
Leading the gains, Roche Holding surged approximately 5.8% after announcing that its new weight-loss pill showed positive results in an early-stage clinical trial.
Swatch Group saw an increase of nearly 2.5%, while Nestle advanced by 1.1%.
Other notable performers included SIG Group and Straumann Holding, which closed up by 0.82% and 0.61%, respectively. Swisscom also ended the day with modest gains.
On the downside, VAT Group fell by 5.27%, and Logitech International declined by 2.39%. Several other companies faced losses, with Givaudan, Partners Group, Richemont, Julius Baer, Sonova, UBS Group, Kuehne + Nagel, and ABB each dropping between 1% and 1.8%. Lonza Group, SGS, Holcim, and Swiss Re also ended the day in negative territory.