Swiss Market Ends Weak On Interest Rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - After moving along the flat line till about an hour before noon, the Switzerland market drifted lower as the session progressed and finally ended on a very weak note on Tuesday.

Concerns about inflation and interest rate outlook rendered the mood cautious.

The benchmark SMI ended down by 106.07 points or 0.89% at 11,854.50. The index, which edged up to 11,986.53 in early trades, touched a low of 11,835.46 in the session.

Lonza Group shares dropped 3.4% and Sika ended lower by about 3%. Partners Group, Julius Baer, Alcon, Straumann Holding, Geberit, Roche Holding, Novartis and Sonova lost 1 to 2%.

Holcim ended nearly 1% down. VAT Group, Givaudan, Zurich Insurance Group, Nestle, Sandoz, Swiss Life Holding and Swiss Re lost 0.6 to 0.9%.

Helvetia ended nearly 5.5% down. Clariant lost 2.8%. Flughafen Zurich, Tecan Group, Ems Chemie Holding, Adecco and Schindler Holding also ended notably lower.

Swatch Group advanced 0.75%. Lindt Spruengli ended modestly higher, while Kuehne & Nagel and Swisscom edged up marginally.

Temenos Group gained about 1.4%. Galenica Sante and PSP Swiss Property posted modest gains.