The Switzerland stock market, which recovered after a weak start Thursday morning, slipped into the red a little past noon, and despite staying weak for a long time, managed to emerge into positive territory again to close modestly higher.
Activity was largely stock specific with earnings updates and other corporate news providing some direction.
The benchmark SMI, which slipped to 11,954.73 in early trades, climbed to a high of 12,053.00 before settling for the day at 12,039.14, netting a gain of 25.99 points or 0.22%.
ABB shares tumbled more than 6% after the engineering and tech group lowered its full-year sales guidance.
Swiss Re, Geberit, Holcim and UBS Group ended lower by 0.5 to 0.85%. Credit Suisse, Novartis, Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Life Holding ended with modest losses.
Lonza Group climbed 2.2%. Roche Holding gained 1.6% and Partners Group ended 1.1% up. Nestle and Givaudan posted moderate gains.
In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Zur Rose shed about 7.6% despite reporting significant revenue growth in all markets.
Schindler Ps and Schindler Holding both ended lower by nearly 6%. Dufry, Flughafen Zurich, Georg Fischer, Helvetia, OC Oerlilkon Corp, SIG Combibloc and Temenos Group lost 1.4 to 2.4%.
On the virus front, Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset said on Wednesday that the Covid certificate requirement and other restrictions will remain in place given the epidemiological situation, which has worsened in the last few days. The minister warned that there are “still dark clouds on the horizon” and that there are concerns that infections could increase in the cold season.
Market Analysis
Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher
2021-10-21 17:20:04
