Swiss Market Ends Modestly Higher On Late Buying

(RTTNews) - After languishing in negative territory till the penultimate hour, the Switzerland stock market saw some buying in the closing minutes of the session on Tuesday to finish with a modest gain.

Worries about a possible recession, interest rate hikes and a surge in coronavirus cases in several regions across China rendered the mood bearish early on in the session. However, stocks found support at lower levels and gradually moved up a bit to cut losses.

Investors looked ahead to the U.S. inflation data, due later in the week, for clues about the Federal Reserve's future interest rate moves.

The benchmark SMI ended with a gain of 42.67 points or 0.39% at 11,069.83, the day's high. The index dropped to a low of 10,925.90 earlier in the session.

UBS Group climbed 2.16%. Holcim, Credit Suisse and Swiss Re gained 1.6 to 1.8%, while Swiss Life Holding, Richemont, ABB and Partners Group advanced 1.2 to 1.5%.

Zurich Insurance Group, Logitech, Roche Holding, Sika and Nestle posted modest gains.

Givaudan drifted down 3.45%, and Lonza Group shed about 2.5%.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Swatch Group, Julius Baer and Cembra Money Bank gained 2.4 to 3%. Adecco, Temenos Group, Schindler Holding, Schindler Ps, Baloise Holding, Helvetia and VAT Group ended higher by 1 to 1.75%.

Bachem Holding plunged more than 10%. BB Biotech and Ems Chemie Holding both shed about 2%, while Dufry and Flughafen Zurich ended lower by 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.