Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market had another weak outing, with the mood staying bearish on Wednesday due to the ongoing political spat between the European Union and Switzerland.

According to reports, major stock exchange venues in Europe are set to delist more than 250 Swiss companies on July 1 if there is no solution to the row over bilateral agreements between the European Union and Switzerland.

London Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that it would suspend Swiss shares for trading with effect from 1 July 2019 if no deal is reached with European Union by June 30. Nestle and Novartis are among the top companies that could be banned in London as well as other major financial centers in Europe.

The benchmark SMI ended down 60.77 points, or 0.61%, at 9,838.13, slightly off the day's low of 9,835.61.

Novartis declined more than 2%. Lonza Group shares shed about 1.3%. SGS, Nestle, Sika, Givaudan, Roche Holding and Swisscom lost 0.4 to 1%.

Valora Holding said it expects external sales to grow by 2 to 3% per year until 2025. However, the stock ended weak, losing nearly 3.5%.

Among the gainers, Credit Suisse moved up 1.55%. UBS Group gained about 1.2%. According to reports, a former UBS compliance officer and her friend were found guilty of insider dealing by a London jury on Tuesday.

Swatch Group and Alcon both ended higher by 0.75%. Geberit, ABB and Swiss Life Holding edged up marginally.

In economic news, the Swiss investor sentiment index slipped to -30 in June of 2019 from -14.3 in the previous month. It was the lowest reading since January, as the assessment of the current economic situation fell to 26.7 from 35.7 in May and 64 a year earlier.