FX.co ★ Swiss Market Ends Marginally Up

The Swiss stock market closed slightly higher on Thursday, despite spending much of the afternoon session in the negative territory. Investors processed the country's unemployment statistics and anticipated key economic reports from the U.S.

The Swiss Market Index (SMI) concluded the day with a modest increase of 7.18 points or 0.06%, closing at 11,790.79. After peaking at 11,816.25 in the morning, the index fell to a low of 11,755.74 by mid-afternoon.

Roche Holding rose by approximately 1.1% following the acceptance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of its supplemental biologics license application for Columvi. This drug, in combination with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin, is intended for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in patients who are not eligible for autologous stem cell transplants and have undergone at least one previous treatment.

Other notable gains were seen in Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Life Holding, Holcim, Swisscom, and Kuehne + Nagel, which saw their stocks increase between 0.7% and 1.1%.

Julius Baer, Logitech International, UBS Group, and SGS closed with gains ranging from 0.48% to 0.56%.

In contrast, the VAT Group experienced a decline of 2.59%, while Lonza Group, Sandoz Group, Geberit, Lindt & Sprüngli, Richemont, Sika, and Alcon saw their stocks fall between 1% and 1.6%.

Straumann Holding and Sonova both ended the day down nearly 1%, with Adecco and Nestle decreasing by 0.68% and 0.52%, respectively.

According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Switzerland's unemployment rate edged up slightly in November after remaining unchanged the previous month.

The unadjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.6% in November from 2.5% in October. Compared to the same month last year, the unemployment rate was 2.1%.

The number of registered unemployed individuals increased to 121,114 in November from 116,114 in the prior month. The youth unemployment rate, applicable to the 15-24 age bracket, held steady at 2.6%.

Further data showed that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.6%, consistent with October's figure.