Swiss stocks rallied on Wednesday amid hopes that Greece will pass austerity measures that will trigger emergency lending from the European Union and IMF.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) is up 1.45 percent at 5,996. All components of the SMI were in the green as of mid-day.
The Swiss Leader Index (SLI) increased by 1.75 percent to 947.11 and the broad Swiss Performance Index (SPI) gathered 1.42 percent to 5,595.
In corporate news, Actelion said a $577 million provision for the Asahi Kasei litigation may lead to a 2011 U.S. GAAP operating loss. Analysts say the dispute will be settled at a lower payment. Actelion shares are up 3 percent.
U.K. regulators have rejected Roche's Tarceva pill for long-term use in lung cancer patients who have had treatment to stabilize their disease.
However, studies showed that diabetics taking Lucentis had significant and sustained vision improvement compared with those who received a placebo. Roche shares were up 1.7 percent.
Nobel Biocare is up 2.4 percent on a recommendation from UBS.
Solar company Meyer Burger signed a new contract with GCL in China worth more than 160 million Swiss francs. Shares were up 4.3 percent.
Banking stocks were positive amid hopes for a Greece bailout. UBS picked up 2.4 percent, while Credit Suisse gained 0.9 percent. Zurich Financial CFO Dieter Wemmer is leaving the company by the end of the year, and shares were up 1.5 percent.
Logitech shares jumped 7 percent as investors snapped up beaten-down tech stocks. Kudelski rose 5.3 percent, while cyclicals ABB and Holcim were up nearly 3 percent each.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.