Swiss Stocks Show Little Direction Monday

(RTTNews) - Swiss stocks were little changed in quiet dealing Monday, bouncing back and forth along the unchanged line amid lack of positive catalysts.

Disappointing Chinese economic data put markets in Europe on the defensive, and Swiss stocks were unable to bounce back from last week's modest losses.

The Swiss Market Index (SMI) lost 0.13 percent to 8,367.55. The broader Swiss Performance Index (SPI) was down lost 0.17 percent 8,111.48.

Cyclical stocks performed poorly. Clariant fell 1.3 percent, Transocean slipped 1.1 percent and Richemont lost 0.8 percent.

On a day light of corporate news, SGS said its finance chief Geraldine Matchett was resigning. Shares were down 0.7 percent.

Mikron lost 4.5 percent after falling short of earnings estimates.

Switzerland retail sales growth slowed considerably in January due to a fall in non-food sales, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Monday.

Real retail turnover grew only 0.3 percent on a yearly basis in January, slower than the 2.5 percent growth seen in December. Likewise, sales excluding fuel gained 0.5 percent after rising 2.6 percent a month ago.