Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market stayed weak right through the trading session on Friday with investors largely refraining from picking up stocks, choosing to wait for directional clues.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to a low of 13,101.13 a little past mid afternoon, ended the session with a loss of 81.27 points or 0.61% at 13,147.13.

Holcim, Alcon, Swiss Life Holding, UBS Group and Kuehne + Nagel lost between 2% and 2.4%. Helvetia Baloise Holding, Zurich Insurance, Galderma Group, Richemont, Straumann Holding, Lindt & Spruengli and Partners Group ended down by 1.25% to 1.8%.

Nestle, Sika, Logitech International, Sonova and Geberit also closed notably lower.

Sandoz Group climbed 2.4%. Swisscom added 1.08%, while Novartis, ABB and SGS posted modest gains.