The Switzerland market, which briefly rebounded into positive territory after a weak start Wednesday morning, faltered soon and spent the rest of the session in the red.
Investors stayed reluctant to pick up shares amid concerns about rising new coronavirus cases.
The benchmark SMI, which rose to 11,106.94 after a weak start, fell to a low of 11,033.37 before finally settling at 11,063.87, netting a loss of 34.79 points or 0.31%.
Roche Holding ended lower by about 1.5%. Richemont, Sika, Lonza Group and ABB lost 0.8 to 1%, while ABB, Novartis and Givaudan ended 0.4% down from previous closing levels.
Partners Group shares gained 2.6% and LafargeHolcim ended 2.3% up. Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding and UBS Group moved up 0.7 to 1.1%. Credit Suisse, Alcon and Geberit gained a little over 0.5% each.
Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Dufry ended nearly 7% down and Logitech ended lower by 3.1%.
Among the gainers, VAT Group moved up 2.7% and Kuehne & Nagel gained 1.65%, while Schindler Holding, AMS, Swiss Prime Site and Flughafen Zurich gained 1.2 to 1.5%.
The Swiss National Bank is scheduled to announce its rate decision on Thursday. The central bank is widely expected to maintain interest rates at -0.75%, the lowest in the world. The bank’s monetary policy assessment that will provide some clues about the outlook for the Swiss economy will be in focus.
Swiss Market Ends Weak After Lackluster Session
2021-03-24 18:13:21
