The Switzerland stock market ended sharply lower on Friday, tracking weakness in global markets as sentiment got a jolt due to a huge surge in speculative trading by retail investors.
Concerns over tight liquidity in China, rising coronavirus cases, lockdown restrictions, and the slow pace of vaccination in the Euro area due to supply delays also weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 258.76 points or 2.38% at 10,591.06, the day’s low.
Givaudan ended lower by 3.5% after the fragrance and flavor products maker confirmed its mid-term targets.
Zurich Insurance Group, Roche Holding and UBS Group also lost more than 3%. Novartis, Nestle, Alcon and Swiss Re ended lower by 2.5 to 2.8%.
Swiss Life Holding, Credit Suisse, Sika, Partners Group, Richemont and Geberit also declined sharply. Swatch Group bucked the trend and ended stronger by about 2.5%.
In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry, Sonova, Vifor Pharma, Barry Callebaut, Flughafen Zurich, Schindler Holding, Cembra Money Bank and Straumann Holding lost 2.5 to 4.5%. Julius Baer, Kuehne & Nagel, Logitech and Schindler Ps also declined sharply.
In economic news, the KOF Economic Barometer in Switzerland slid to its lowest level since July, falling to 96.5 in January of 2021 from a downwardly revised 104.1 in the previous month and much worse than market expectations of 102.
The other major markets in Europe also ended sharply lower. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 1.82%, Germany’s DAX declined 1.71% and France’s CAC 40 fell 2.02%, while the pan European Stoxx 600 tumbled 1.67%.
Market Analysis
Swiss Market Ends Sharply Lower
2021-01-29 18:56:50
