"Exports are still rather weak. If you look at the main industries like machinery, they are still in negative territory year-on-year"
- Maxime Botteron, an economist at Credit Suisse
Switzerland posted a bigger-than-expected trade surplus in October, helped by the resilient demand for goods produced in domestic economy despite the global economic slowdown. According to the Federal Statistical Office, nation's trade surplus widened to 2.82 billion francs in October compared to a surplus of 1.93 billion in the prior month. However, exports from the country fell 7.7% in October from a year earlier, due to a negative trend in the machinery and electronics industry.
"Exports are still rather weak. If you look at the main industries like machinery, they are still in negative territory year-on-year. I wouldn't say there was a change in the trend for the export sector." said Maxime Botteron, an economist at Credit Suisse.
"Performances on the three main markets for Swiss watch exports were below average. Hong Kong and the United States recorded modest increases, while China clearly lost ground. Most other markets registered strong growth," Swiss watch federation.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, fell 0.30 per cent to 6,618.99. The broader Swiss Performance Index erased 0.26 per cent to stand at 6,095.80.
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