Swiss Market Ends Weak

BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended lower on Tuesday even as most of the markets across Europe saw a fairly good outing.

While the European Union's announcement of a 750 billion euro recovery fund aided sentiment in euro denominated stock markets in Europe, disappointing retail sales data weighed on Swiss stocks.

However, optimism about potential coronavirus vaccines helped limit market's slide.

The benchmark SMI ended down 26.87 points or 0.26% at 10,444.05. The index touched a high of 10,533.33 in the first hour of the session.

Novartis declined nearly 2%. SGS ended lower by about 1.5%, while Givaudan lost 0.9%. Alcon, Roche Holding, Swisscom and Richemont shed 0.4 to 0.6%.

Adecco moved up more than 4%. UBS Group gained about 2.6% and Swiss Re gained 1.5%, while Credit Suisse and Swiss Life Holding both ended higher by about 1.1%.

In the midcap section, Lindt & Sp Ps and Lindt & Spruengli lost 4.3% and 4%, respectively. Kuehne & Nagel declined 2.3% and Vifor Pharma ended lower by 2.2%, while Temenos Group lost 1.7%.

On the other hand, Dufry surged up 3.25% and Georg Fischer gained 2.1%. Flughafen Zurich, Julius Baer, Helvetia and Baloise Holding gained 1.2 to 2%.

Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Swiss exports declined sharply in the second quarter, falling by a real 12.5%, compared to a 2% decrease in the first quarter. Imports decreased 12.1% in the second quarter, following a 4% decline in the previous quarter.

In nominal terms, exports fell 11.5% quarterly and imports declined 16% in the second quarter.

The trade balance registered a record surplus of CHF 9.595 billion in the second quarter versus CHF 8.440 billion in the previous quarter. In the second quarter 2019, the trade surplus was CHF 6.152 billion.

In June, exports rose 7.9% monthly, after a 0.1% fall in May. Imports increased 5.5% month-on-month in June, following a 13.9% rise in the prior month.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports declined sharply by 35.1% year-on-year in June. In the first half of the year, watch exports decreased 35.7% year-on-year. Demand from China increased sharply in June, while from Hong Kong, US, UK, Germany and Singapore declined, the data showed.

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX