Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - After a positive spell till about an hour before noon on Friday, the Swiss market struggled a bit for a while, and despite a good recovery, turned weak again and eventually ended the day's session on a weak note.

Volatile oil prices, rising concerns about the conflict in the Middle East and fears of monetary tightening by global central banks rendered the mood bearish.

The benchmark SMI settled with a loss of 138.55 points or 1.11% at 12,320.99, the day's low.

Swisscom ended nearly 2.5% down. Alcon, ABB and Kuehne + Nagel lost 2%-2.2%, while Logitech International, Julius Baer and Roche Holding ended lower by 1.5%-1.7%.

Novartis moved higher after it agreed to buy an experimental breast cancer drug from Synnovation Therapeutics for as much as $3 billion. However, the stock failed to hold gains and settled on a weak note.

Lonza Group, Partners Group, Straumann Holding, Schindler Ps, Swiss Re, Amrize and Nestle lost 1%-1.4%. SGS, Swiss Life Holding, Givaudan, VAT Group, UBS Group and Zurich Insurance also ended notably lower.

Holcim climbed up 1.7%. Lindt & Spruengli, Sika and Helvetia Baloise Holding posted modest gains.