- Pierre Mouton, a portfolio manager at Notz Stucki & Cie.
Swiss stocks closed higher for the first time in four days on Thursday, as American jobless claims slid to a four-year low and Italy's bond yields tumbled after a debt sale. Italy raised 3.75 billion euros of debt in an auction on Thursday at an average yield of 2.86 per cent, with bids exceeding supply 1.67 times, up from 1.49 times in the previous month.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, rose 0.38 per cent to 6,654.02. The broader Swiss Performance Index edged higher 0.40 per cent to 6,138.99.
"The U.S. jobless report was very positive," said Pierre Mouton, a portfolio manager at Notz Stucki & Cie. in Geneva. "These numbers are encouraging and should help the market recover."
"Recent U.S. macroeconomic data indicate things are not worsening," said Manish Singh, a head of investment at Crossbridge Capital in London. "It's fair to say Europe has been driving the risk in the market for some time. With the European Central Bank's outright monetary transactions program on standby, the chances of a sell- off is remote."
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