- Michael Hewson, senior markets analyst at CMC Markets
Swiss stocks closed higher on Friday, amid better-than-expected U.S. job data, despite disappointing manufacturing data from the eurozone. However, near-term index moves are likely to be subdued, until the outcome of the U.S. presidential election on November 6.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, added 0.62 per cent to 6,701.37. The broader Swiss Performance Index jumped 0.97 per cent to 6,147.80.
"The U.S. unemployment figures were better than expected and a positive for the markets," said Gerard Lane, a strategist at Shore Capital Group Ltd. in Liverpool, England. "If this pace of economic growth can continue and we don't see a fiscal cliff, markets may carry on going up."
"Upside is still going to remain limited ahead of next week's election - there's still a bit of uncertainty ahead of that... and obviously as to how much damage there will be from (superstorm) Sandy," Michael Hewson, senior markets analyst at CMC Markets, said.
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