Swiss Stocks Kick Off Week Little Changed; Ams-Osram Shares Gain
The Swiss Market Index was 0.01% higher on Monday's close, as investors gear up for a busy week of economic data prints and business surveys across Europe and other major global markets.ABB (ABBN.SW) is investing $200 million over the next three years to bolster its medium-voltage manufacturing and technology capabilities in Europe, with $100 million earmarked for a new facility in Italy. The other half will be allocated for capacity expansion projects across the Switzerland-based electrification and automation company's manufacturing facilities in Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Norway and Poland. The stock was up 1.88% at closing.Ams-Osram (AMS.SW) saw its shares surge 13.22% as it agreed to sell its CMOS Image Sensor business to indie Semiconductor for a total consideration of 40 million euros. The divestment is part of the light and sensors manufacturer's accelerated deleveraging plan and continued efforts to focus on core digital photonics growth vectors, with the deal anticipated to complete within the next six months."While [CMOS Image Sensor] represents a strong technology platform, our strategic priority is to concentrate investments on those AI driven segments that offer the most promising growth prospects and where we clearly differentiate - including AI Photonics and AR smart glasses," Ams Osram Chief Executive Officer Aldo Kamper said. "At the same time, the expected cash proceeds provide an additional contribution to our accelerated balance sheet deleveraging. Our transformation into the Digital Photonics powerhouse is progressing."Switzerland's economic news calendar was empty for the day, while the release of the country's April producer and import prices and first-quarter industrial production data are on this week's agenda. Market watchers are also awaiting the April US inflation rate figures and Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for May, among other key data releases.