Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

The Switzerland stock market ended weak on Tuesday, in line with markets across Europe, as worries about the newly identified Omicron variant of the coronavirus and doubts about the efficacy of existing vaccines against it rendered the mood bearish.

The benchmark SMI, which plunged nearly 150 points to 12,071.67 early on in the session, ended with a loss of 61.05 points or 0.5% at 12,159.69.

Logitech declined 3.4%, SGS shed about 2.4% and Holcim ended 2.25% down. Nestle, Richemont and Novartis ended lower by 1.75%, 1.58% and 1.1%, respectively. Sika, Zurich Insurance Group, Swisscom and Givaudan lost 0.5 to 0.8%.

Lonza Group gained about 1.75%. UBS Group advanced 1.2%, while Swiss Life Holding and Partners Group both moved up nearly 1%. Geberit, Roche Holding and Credit Suisse gained 0.5 to 0.8%.

In the Mid Price Index, VAT Group declined more than 6%. Logitech, Dufry, Temenos Group, OC Oerlikon Corp, Schindler Holding and Adecco lost 2 to 3.4%.

Zur Rose, Vifor Pharma, SIG Combibloc, Georg Fischer, AMS, Swiss Prime Site, Schindler Ps and Ems Chemie Holding also declined sharply.

The Swiss Economic Institute said the KOF Economic Barometer in Switzerland fell for the sixth straight month, sliding to 108.5 in November of 2021 from a downwardly revised 110.2 in October.

In virus update, the Swiss government said it is planning to tighten anti-coronavirus measures across the nation, saying that while little is yet known about the new Omicron Covid variant it does not wish to lose time against this new threat.