Mubasher: Switzerland recorded a rise in its trade surplus in the second quarter of 2018, official data showed on Thursday.

Foreign trade surplus rose to 4.6 billion Swiss francs (CHF) ($4.59 billion) in Q2-18, compared to CHF 3.6 billion in Q1-18, but lower than the surplus of CHF 5.5 billion seen in Q2-17, Switzerland's Federal Customs Administration said.

In real terms, Swiss exports increased 1.8% in the April-June period of 2018, for the fifth consecutive quarter, registering a new quarterly high, while the volume of imports went up 0.5% during the same period.

Moreover, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry reported that watch exports grew 11.8% year-on-year in June, while the industry exports hit beyond the CHF 10 billion benchmark in the first six months of 2018, for the first time since 2015.

By 9:43 am GMT, the USD/CHF pair rose 0.34% to CHF 1.0024.