Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

The Switzerland stock market ended weak on Tuesday after languishing in the red right through the session amid rising concerns about the rapid spread of coronavirus infections and fears of another large scale lockdown across the world.

Renewed concerns about U.S.-China tensions hurt as well, prompting investors to either stay away on the sidelines or lighten commitments.

The benchmark SMI, which slipped to a low of 10,117.64 in the first hour, recovered well from those levels, but still ended the session with a notable loss of 41.46 points or 0.4% at 10,259.50.

Roche Holding shares declined by about 1.6% and Richemont shed 1.1%. Alcon, Novartis, Lonza Group and Nestle lost 0.6 to 1%,

Among the gainers in the SMI, Swiss Life Holding and Swiss Re both moved up by about 1.7%. UBS Group and Credit Suisse advanced 1.25% and 1.1%, respectively, while Zurich Insurance Group and Swisscom gained nearly 1% each. LafargeHolcim and Swatch Group posted modest gains.

In the midcap section, Logitech tumbled nearly 4% and Vifor Pharma shed 3.25%. BB Biotech, VAT Group, Partners Group, Sonova, Dufry, Straumann Holding and Flughafen Zurich lost 1.5 to 2.6%.

On the other hand, Baloise Holding and Julius Baer gained 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. Sunrise Communications moved up 0.7%.

In economic news, Switzerland's producer and import prices declined in June, the Federal Statistical Office report showed. Producer and import prices fell 3.5% year-on-year in June.

The producer price index fell 2% annually in June and import prices decreased 6.5%. On a monthly basis, producer and import prices rose 0.5% in June.

The latest rise was mainly due to higher prices for petroleum products as well as petroleum and natural gas, the agency said.

Domestic sale prices fell 0.9% yearly in June and rose 0.3% a month ago. Meanwhile, export prices declined 2.6% annually in June and remained unchanged from the previous month.