Swiss Market Pares Gains, Ends Slightly Down

(RTTNews) - After recovering from a weak start, the Switzerland stock market recovered and stayed positive till the final hour and finally ended marginally down on Friday.

Activity was mostly stock specific and the mood remained cautious amid uncertainty about quantum of interest rate hikes by the Fed in the coming months.

Data showing an increase in Swiss industrial production aided sentiment.

The benchmark SMI ended lower by 10.87 points or 0.1% at 11,156.72 after scaling a low of 11,125.80 and a high of 11,241.18 intraday.

Credit Suisse, UBS Group and Logitech declined 3 to 4%. Partners Group and Sika ended lower by 2.9% and 2.77%, respectively.

Geberit drifted down nearly 2%, and Lonza Group ended 1.74% down, while Givaudan and ABB lost 1.14% and 1%, respectively.

Novartis and Roche Holding gained 1.12% and 1.06%, respectively, while Alcon advanced nearly 1%.

In the Mid Price index, Bachem Holding ended nearly 8% down. Tecan Group and AMS shed 5.4% and 4.6%, respectively.

VAT Group, Dufry and Straumann Holding lost 2.5 to 3%. Adecco and Flughafen Zurich also declined sharply.

Sonova, Zur Rose, Temenos Group and Lindt & Spruengli posted sharp to moderate gains.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed industrial production in Switzerland rose 5.1% in the second quarter.

Secondary sector production, which combines industry and construction, grew 4.1% annually in the second quarter. Construction output declined 1.3%.

Industrial turnover advanced 9.5% in the second quarter and construction turnover rose 7%.

The growth in production and turnover was uninterrupted since the first quarter 2021, the agency said.

In June, industrial production rose 10.3% year-on-year, following a 4.6 percent growth in May.