The Swiss stock market closed to the upside on Wednesday, driven by strength in shares of Novartis, one of the most heavily weighted stocks in the index. The market reached a new intraday high for the year of 6,540 points today, but was unable to sustain that level.
There were numerous economic reports released by the U.S. in the afternoon, but the results were mixed. U.S. homebuilder confidence and industrial production results were better than expected. Consumer prices remained surprisingly stable in July. However, the New York Fed survey result came in weaker than expected.
The Swiss Market Index climbed by 0.09 percent Wednesday and finished at 6,511.87. The Swiss Leader Index gained 0.04 percent and the Swiss Performance Index increased by 0.01 percent.
Shares of Novartis increased by 1.4 percent Wednesday and provided support to the overall market. The rest of the index heavyweights finished with modest losses. Roche dipped by 0.02 percent and Nestle fell by 0.03 percent.
Holcim declined by 1.2 percent, following the company's report for the first half of the year. The stock fell despite both sales and earnings being judged to be sufficient by analysts.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com