Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a weak note on Friday after staying in negative territory right through the day's session.

Concerns about economic slowdown rendered the mood cautious.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 55.47 points or 0.49% at 11,317.74. The index moved in a very narrow range, scaling a low of 11,301.12 and a high of 11,364.99 intraday.

Logitech and Kuehne & Nagel ended lower by 2.17% and 2.13%, respectively. ABB, Roche Holding, Sonova and Partners Group lost 0.9 to 1.2%.

UBS Group, Lonza Group and Holcim gained 0.73%, 0.64% and 0.45%, respectively. Swisscom edged up marginally.

In the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech lost 2%. Flughafen Zurich, Bachem Holding and Galenica Sante declined 1.5 to 1.65%.

Tecan Group, PSP Swiss Property, Straumann Holding and Lindt & Spruengli also ended notably lower.

AMS soared 18.5% after the company said it has decied to exit lower performing portfolio, and focus on profitable core operations.

Dufry gained nearly 2%, while Swatch Group and Belimo Holding advanced 1.2% and 1.15%, respectively. Clariant gained 0.85% after second quarter results beat estimates. Adecco and SIG Combibloc posted moderate gains.

In economic news, A leading indicator signaling upcoming turnarounds in Switzerland's economy rose for the first time in four months in July, yet signaled below-average development, survey results from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute showed Friday.

The KOF Economic Barometer rose to 92.2 from 90.7 in June, which was revised from 90.8. Economists had forecast a weaker score of 90.5.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed retail sales in Switzerland increased 1.8% year-on-year in June, recovering from a revised 0.9% decline in the previous month.