Swiss Market Ends Modestly Lower
(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market closed weak on Monday although the downside was much less pronounced than the losses posted by most of the major markets in the European region.
The weakness in the market was due to rising fears of a global trade war after the U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China and warned that the EU and the UK could be next in line for the levy.
Some of the major markets in the region trimmed their losses a bit after Trump decided to postpone implementation of the levy on Mexico by a month after talks with the Mexican President.
The Swiss benchmark SMI closed down 50.32 points or 0.4% at 12,546.77, well off the day's low of 12,409.82.
Julius Baer plunged 12.7% as the bank announced plans to cut its workforce by about 5% as part of savings measures under new chief executive Stefan Bollinger.
Sandoz closed lower by 2.8%. The generic pharmaceutical company has appointed Peter Stenico as the new President Region International and member of the Sandoz Executive Committee.
Logitech International ended down 3.1%. Sika, Straumann Holding and Kuehne + Nagel lost 2.1 to 2.5%. ABB, VAT Group, UBS Group, Schindler Ps and Givaudan ended lower by 1.5 to 1.8%.
Geberit, Holcim, SGS, Partners Group, Sonova, Alcon, SIG Group, Richemont and Swiss Life Holding also closed notably lower.
Lonza Group rallied 2.7%. Swatch Group gained a little over 1%. Novartis and Nestle posted modest gains.
On the economic front, the Swiss procure.ch PMI rose slightly to 47.5 in January 2025, up from 47 in December but below market expectations of 49.
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