BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Swiss stocks closed on a strong note on Wednesday,
holding firm right through the day's session, thanks to sustained buying at
several counters amid optimism about earnings and the outlook for interest
rates.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 113.83 points or 0.95% at 12,151.19,
slightly off the day's high of 12,153.42.

Swisscom gained more than 2%. Roche Holdings, UBS Group, Swiss Life Holding and
Kuehne + Nagel climbed 1.5 to 1.8%.

Novartis, Partners Group, Zurich Insurance and Lonza Group gained 1 to 1.25%.
Richemont, ABB, Nestle, Geberit, Sika, SIG Group, Swatch Group, Julius Baer and VAT Group also ended higher.

SGS ended on a firm note after announcing its agreement to purchase France-based
cosmetics clinical research organization Institut d'Expertise Clinique.
Completion of the deal remains subject to customary pre-closing conditions.

Flughafen Zurich gained about 1.5%. The Zurich Airport operator said that
passenger traffic jumped 8.1% year over year to 2,808,339, in June, while its
total turnover increased 6.9% to 57 million francs. The Zurich Airport
operator's shares rose 1.49% at closing.

Logitech International ended down 3.62%. Alcon, Givaudan and Straumann Holdings
drifted down 1.05%, 0.85% and 0.68%, respectively.



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