"We are strictly within our mandate to maintain price stability over the medium term"
- Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank
Swiss stocks advanced on Thursday, as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers agreed to an unlimited bond-purchase program to lower borrowing costs of countries such as Spain and Italy.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies advanced 1.60 per cent to 6,527.87. The broader Swiss Performance Index increased by 1.57 per cent to 6,028.21.
"Governments must stand ready to activate the EFSF/ESM in the bond market when exceptional financial-market circumstances and risks to financial stability exist -- with strict and effective conditionality," Draghi said.
"Let me repeat what I said last month. We are strictly within our mandate to maintain price stability over the medium term."
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