Swiss Market Ends Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - After languishing in negative territory till just a few minutes before the closing bell, the Switzerland stock market ended with a small gain on Wednesday.

The mood remained cautious amid concerns about growth due to the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the resultant sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and Western allies.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 11,668.96 after a weak start, ended the day with a gain of 9.31 points or 0.08% at 11,871.59.

Holcim, Richemont and Logitech gained 1.98%, 1.9% and 1.81%, respectively. Credit Suisse ended nearly 1% up, while Alcon and Lonza Group gained 0.88% and 0.84%, respectively.

Sika AG shares moved up by about 0.8% after the company said that it has acquired Sable Marco Inc., a Canadian maker of cementitious products and mortars, for an undisclosed sum. Sable Marco, based out of Québec City is expected to help Sika expand operations in the eastern side of Canada.

Givaudan shed about 2%. Roche Holding ended 1.1% down, while SGS, Swiss Re and Swisscom lost 0.5 to 0.9%.

In the Swiss Mid Price index, Georg Fischer gained about 3.4% and Cembra Money Bank ended nearly 3% up. AMS, Adecco, Kuehne & Nagel, Swiss Prime Site and BB Biotech gained 1.8 to 2.3%.

VAT Group ended 2.59% down. SIG Combibloc declined 1.82% and Tecan Group drifted down 1.25%. Barry Callebaut, OC Oerlikon Corp and Schindler Holding also ended notably lower.