Swiss Market Ends Weak
(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended modestly lower on Thursday after languishing in negative territory right through the day's trading session, as the mood remained cautious with investors looking ahead to speeches from central bank chiefs at Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Symposium.
The benchmark SMI closed down by 34.59 points or 0.28% at 12,241.67, after scaling a low of 12,186.82 and a high of 12,261.22 intraday.
Alcon ended down by 2.56%. Straumann Holding, Kuehne + Nagel, Geberit, SGS, Givaudan and Adecca lost 1.3 to 2%.
Sika, Schindler Ps, Lonza Group, Sonova, Partners Group, Richemont, VAT Group, Swiss Re, SIG Group and Lindt & Spruengli closed lower by 0.5 to 1.1%.
Sandoz Group climbed about 1%. Logitech International and Novartis gained about 0.65% and 0.5%, respectively. Julius Baer, Swisscom and Amrize edged up marginally.
In economic news, Switzerland's foreign trade surplus increased slightly in July, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed.
The trade surplus rose to CHF 4.33 billion in July from CHF 4.18 billion in June.
In nominal terms, exports were 2.7% lower, while imports showed a decrease of 4.2%. In real terms, exports and imports declined by 2.7% and 0.3%, respectively.
Shipments of chemical-pharmaceutical products decreased by 7.9% over the month, while those of jewelry items climbed by 7.9%.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports rose 6.9% year-on-year in July.
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