Swiss Market Closes Moderately Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market turned weak after a slightly positive start Friday morning, and despite briefly emerging above the flat line around late morning, failed to find support and eventually ended the day's session on a negative note.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 47.27 points or 0.42% at 11,091.58. The index, which edged up to 11,161.06 in early trades, touched a low of 11,064.90 in the final hour.

Nestle ended nearly 3% down. Givaudan and Holcim settled lower by 1.48% and 1.22%, respectively.

Alcon climbed 1.85%. Sonova and Logitech International ended higher by 1.14% and 1.05%, respectively. Richemont, UBS Group and Novartis posted modest gains.

In the Mid Price Index, Adecco, BKW, SIG Combibloc and Lindt & Spruengli lost 2.4 to 2.8%. Ems Chemie Holding, Barry Callebaut, Clariant, Swiss Prime Site, Flughafen Zurich and Sandoz ended lower by 1.2 to 2%.

ams OSRAM AG soared 12.6% after reporting Q4 sales in line with market expectations.

Straumann Holding and VAT Group gained 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Swatch Group, Schindler Ps and Schindler Holding gained 0.5 to 0.7%.