"Political leaders are in agreement on budget controls, but there isn't a lot that has changed"
- Guillaume Chaloin, a fund manager at Meeschaert Asset Management
Swiss trade balance narrowed more than expected to 2.07 billion francs in December from the revised 2.95 billion francs in November, shows the data published by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday.
Swiss stocks closed lower the same day, led by Nestle, the biggest stock in the Swiss Market Index.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, declined 0.09%, or 5.50 points, to 6,064.41. The broader Swiss Performance Index gained 0.00%, or 0.01 points, to 5,501.25.
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs is to announce unemployment rate on Wednesday. Unemployment rose 0.1 per cent to 3.1 per cent in December.
© Dukascopy Bank