BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended flat on Wednesday after a somewhat cautious session with investors tracking news about coronavirus cases and reacting to updates on the vaccine front.
The benchmark SMI, which touched a low of 10,501.41 in early trades, rose to 10,619.26 by mid afternoon and finally settled at 10,563.89 with a marginal loss of 1.23 points or 0.01%.
Zurich Insurance Group and Sika both ended higher by about 2.5%. Swiss Life Holding gained 1.3% and LafargeHolcim advanced 1%. Swiss Re and ABB posted modest gains.
Alcon shed more than 2% and Richemont ended nearly 2% down. Lonza Group shed 1.2%, while Swatch Group, Nestle and Geberit lost 0.5 to 0.7% and UBS Group edged down marginally and Credit Suisse closed flat.
In the Swiss Mid Price index, Baloise Holding surged up more than 2.5%. Lindt & Spruengli gained nearly 2%, while Lindt & Sp Ps, PSP Swiss Property, Helvetia and BB Biotech gained 1 to 1.5%.
On the other hand, Straumann Holding and Vifor Pharma shed about 2% each, while Durfty eased 1.6%.
The Swiss government today proposed to expand its hardship support programme for companies, particularly those which are badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic from 400 million Swiss francs ($439 million) to 1 billion francs.
The government said that subject to parliament approval, it will pick up most of the bill for the expanded scheme and pay up to two-thirds of the costs with the remainder being paid for by regional governments.
On the vaccine front, Pfizer and BioNTech said the final efficacy analysis of an ongoing Phase 3 study of their coronavirus vaccine candidate indicated a vaccine efficacy rate of 95%.
The companies said that efficacy was consistent across age, gender, race and ethnicity demographics and suggested the vaccine candidate also helped to fend off severe disease.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they plan to submit a request to the FDA for an Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine 'within days.'
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