Swiss Stocks Rise, Paring Weekly Loss; Julius Baer, Schindler Lead Gains

Swiss stocks rose as U.S. consumer confidence topped estimates and the German and French economies grew at a faster rate than forecast.

Julius Baer Group Ltd. led the Swiss Market Index higher. Schindler Holding AG climbed 6.1 percent, as it announced a plan to merge one of its businesses with a unit of Droege International Group AG. Santhera Pharmaceutical Holding AG surged the most in almost two months after it got patent protection for its Catena medicine.

The benchmark Swiss Market Index gained 0.2 percent to 6,294.34 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Zurich, paring this week’s drop to 0.4 percent. The SMI has added 5.9 percent since this year’s low on July 5 as concern abated that Europe’s debt crisis may derail the economic recovery. The broader Swiss Performance Index climbed 0.3 percent today.

Earlier, Swiss stocks fluctuated as a report showed faster- than-forecast expansion in the 16-nation euro area, while investors speculated that the region’s economy may still stall later this year, dragged down by the indebted nations on Europe’s periphery.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in August, indicating that the biggest part of the world’s largest economy may stabilize. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment climbed to 69.6 following a reading of 67.8 in July that was the lowest since November, the group said. The gauge was forecast to rise to 69, according to the median of 65 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Schindler, Julius Baer

Schindler surged 6.1 percent to 96.75 Swiss francs. The company plans to merge its computer-parts wholesale business with a unit of Droege International Group to form a supplier of software and drives to supermarkets and business customers with 10 billion Swiss francs ($9.5 billion) of sales. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux SA lifted its recommendation on the world’s second- largest maker of elevators to “outperform” from “underperform.”

Julius Baer climbed 1.4 percent to 35.74 francs. Santhera Pharmaceutical surged 8.9 percent to 8.80 francs after the developer of drugs to combat nerve-related diseases said the European Patent Office granted patent protection for the use of its Catena medicine.

U-blox Holding AG climbed 4.7 percent to 43.45 francs. The supplier of positioning microchips used by New York’s yellow cabs was upgraded to “hold” from “reduce” at Vontobel AG, after the company “announced that revenue and profitability developed stronger than initially expected.”

To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net

• Tweet
• More
  • Business Exchange
  • Buzz up!
  • Digg
• Print
• Email