BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended sharply lower on Thursday as the mood was bearish for a second successive day amid mounting concerns about a deep global economic recession and on fears about a second-wave of coronavirus infection.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments about the economy plunging into a deep recession, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s statement about the severity of COVID-19, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s warning about the various relief measures returning back to haunt the economies in future weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark SMI ended down 183.48 points, or 1.9%, at 9,448.14, after scaling a high of 9,592.50 and a low of 9,393.47 in the session.
Adecco declined by about 4.2%. ABB lost nearly 3%, while SGS and Lonza Group ended lower by 3.65% and 3.5%, respectively.
Swiss Life Holding, Swiss Re, UBS Group, Novartis, Swisscom and Givaudan lost 2 to 3%. Geberit, Sika, Swatch Group and Richemont also ended notably lower.
In the midcap section, Straumann Holding tumbled nearly 8.5%. The dental implants makers said it will cut hundreds of jobs following the COVID-19 crisis bringing activity in the offices of dentists and orthodontists around the world to a standstill. The company said expected savings in 2021 due to job cuts will be about 30 million Swiss francs.
Temenos Group, Partners Group, Georg Fischer, VAT Group and Sonova lost 4 to 5%.
Zurich Insurance Group shares ended flat. The Swiss insurer said today that property and casualty claims related to the coronavirus pandemic could total around $750 million this year. In the first quarter, the group recognised claims worth $280 million.
AMS, Clariant, Vifor Pharma, Dorma Kaba Holding, Schindler Ps, Logitech, EMS Chemie Holding, BB Biotech, Schindler Holding and OC Oerlikon Corp lost 2.5 to 3.7%. Julius Baer, Barry Callebaut and Swiss Prime Site also declined sharply.
Dufry rebounded from recent losses and settled nearly 6.5% up. Sunrise Communications gained about 3.3%.
In economic news, Switzerland's producer and import prices declined in April mainly due to lower prices for petroleum products, the Federal Statistical Office reported Thursday.
Producer and import prices fell 4% in April from the same period last year. The producer price index slid 2%, while import prices logged a sharper drop of 7.8%.
On a monthly basis, producer and import prices declined 1.3% in April. Producer prices were down 0.6% and import prices decreased 2.9%.
In a separate report, the statistical office said the unemployment rate declined to 4.5% in the first quarter from 4.9 percent in the same period last year. At the same time, the number of employed grew 1.1% in the first quarter.
These indicators reflect the averages for the quarter and are only marginally affected by the Covid-19 crisis, the statistical office said.
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