After moving modestly higher early on in the session and suffering a couple of mild setbacks that pushed it down into the red for a few minutes, the Switzerland stock market managed to eventually close marginally up on Thursday.
The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 11,254.91 in early trades, ended with a gain of 15.81 points or 0.14% at 11,224.90, after declining to a low of 11,197.54.
Shares of Swiss lender Credit Suisse ended 2.1% down. The bank reported a net loss of 252 million Swiss francs ($295 million) in the first quarter. The bank said the loss reflected a "significant charge with respect to the US-based hedge fund Archegos Capital matter in the first quarter, offsetting positive performance across wealth management and investment banking."
Sika declined 1.7% and Roche Holding ended lower by 1.36%. Zurich Insurance Group, Swisscom, LafargeHolcim, SGS and UBS Group lost 0.5 to 0.8%.
Nestle gained nearly 3%. Swatch Group ended 1.9% up and Lonza Group gained about 1.1%.
In the Mid Price segment, BB Biotech gained nearly 2.25%. Adecco moved up 1.87% and Straumann Holding gained 1.76%, while Sonova, Logitech, Flughafen Zurich, Kuehne & Nagel, Vifor Pharma and Georg Fischer moved up 0.7 to 1.25%.
Temenos Group, Julius Baer, Lindt & Spruengli and Baloise Holding lost 1 to 1.7%, while AMS and Dufry both ended nearly 1% down.
In economic news, Switzerland's exports grew in the first quarter, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed. The report said exports increased 4.9% sequentially in the first quarter, following a 13% rise in the fourth quarter.
Imports grew 1.9% in the first quarter, after a 1.1% drop in the previous quarter. The trade surplus rose to CHF 11.28 billion in the first quarter from CHF 9.405 billion in the previous quarter.
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