(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market pared some intraday gains and ended marginally up on Wednesday as stocks stayed a bit sluggish past mid afternoon.
The mood in the market remained positive thanks to a firm trend across European markets following some impressive earnings updates, and slightly easing geopolitical concerns after the U.S. and Ukraine agreed on a minerals deal.
The benchmark SMI settled with a gain of 17.50 points or 0.13% at 13,042.51, after climbing to a high of 13,100.22.
Adecco soared 12.3%. The staffing company reported higher profit in its fourth quarter, and the Board of Directors proposed to distribute a dividend. Looking ahead, for the first quarter, Adecco expects gross margin to be higher sequentially, in line with normal seasonality.
In its fourth quarter, Adecco's net income grew 6% to 73 million euros from last year's 68 million euros. Earnings per share were 0.43 euro, up 7% from prior year's 0.40 euro. Adjusted earnings per share were 0.63 euro, compared to 0.75 euro last year.
Alcon climbed 5.44%. Alcon's fourth-quarter revenue increased 6.2% to $2.477 billion from $2.332 billion last year.
Swiss Re gained about 3.75%. Richemont, Geberit, Holcim and UBS Group ended higher by 2.1 to 2.5%.
Givaudan and Julius Baer both gained about 1.85%. Logitech International, Swiss Life Holding, Partners Group, VAT Group and ABB moved up 1 to 1.4%.
Sika gained nearly 1%. Zurich Insurance Group and Schindler Ps posted modest gains.
Novartis lost about 3.7%. The investment entity of the Sandoz family, Emasan AG, has sold a substantial portion of its stake in Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, netting 2.6 billion Swiss francs. Goldman Sachs, the bookrunner on the deal, confirmed the transaction.
Lindt & Spruengli declined nearly 2.5%. Swatch Group, Nestle, SIG Group and SGS lost 1.2 to 1.7%.
A report from UBS & CFA Society Switzerland said the Swiss investors' sentiment index fell by 14.3 points from the previous month to 3.4 in February of 2025, pointing to a sharp decline in the level of optimism for Swiss market players.
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