BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended modestly higher on Tuesday, bucking the weak trend in European markets, as select blue chip shares moved higher in late afternoon trades.
After a flat start and a subsequent move up into positive territory, the market faltered and traded weak till a little past mid afternoon before edging higher.
The benchmark SMI ended up 32.05 points or 0.32% at 10,184.82, after moving between 10,112.43 and 10,205.64.
Worries about the impact of coronavirus pandemic resurfaced after reports showed a jump in new coronavirus cases in central America, and the World Health Organization said the pandemic was 'far from over' and urged countries to press on with effors to contain the virus.
Meanwhile, Switzerland's lower house of parliament gave a preliminary green light to contact tracing app SwissCovid, which should roll out this month to help contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Lonza Group gained about 3.2%, Novartis surged up 2.1% and Nestle moved up 1.75%. Roche Holding and Givaudan both ended higher by about 1.2%, while Sika gained 0.7%.
Adecco declined 3.28%, while UBS Group, Swiss Re, Credit Suisse and Zurich Insurance Group ended lower by 2.5 to 2.75%.
Geberit, Alcon, LafargeHolcim, ABB and Swiss Re lost 1.3 to 1.7%. Swiss Re CEO said the company would look into possible acquisitions at the end of the year or early 2021 in case there are opportunities.
In the midcap section, OC Oerlikon Corp, PSP Swiss Property, Baloise Holding, Flughafen Zurich, Georg Fischer, Straumann Holding, Julius Baer, Clariant and Sunrise Communications lost 2 to 5%.
Dufry declined by about 2.1%. The company said it was adapting its organization to the new business environment to accelerate growth and support profitability during the recovery phase of the economic crisis and beyond, by integrating its headquarters and divisions, simplifying the first management level and reducing its Global Executive Committee to reflect organizational changes.
VAT Group surged up nearly 4%. Logitech and AMS gained 2.2% and 1.55%, respectively.
In economic news, the unemployment rate in Switzerland edged up to a non-seasonally adjusted 3.4% in May 2020 from 3.3% in the previous month and compared with market consensus of 3.5%. This was the highest jobless rate since February 2017, as the number of unemployed people rose by 2,585 or 1.7% to 155,998.
Other major European markets ended lower on Tuesday as World Bank's warning that the global economy this year will see the deepest recession since the World Wart II rendered the mood cautious and prompted investors to sell stocks.
Slightly fading hopes of a quicker global economic recovery following a jump in the number of new coronavirus cases across the globe and WHO's warning that the pandmic was 'far from over' prompted investors to take some profits.
Data showing a sharp contraction in Euro Zone Gross Domestic Product and a marked decline in German exports too contributed to the weakness in the markets. A lack of progress in trade talks between the UK and EU also hurt sentiment.
The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 1.22%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 2.11%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 lost 1.57% and 1.55%, respectively.
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