Swiss Market Ends Lower For 4th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended weak on Friday amid lingering worries about slowing growth and higher interest rates.

The benchmark SMI, which stayed in negative territory right through the day's session, settled with a loss of 45.83 points or 0.42% at 10,839.06. The index touched a low of 10,749.38 and a high of 10,870.27 intraday.

Richemont, Sika and Roche Holding lost 1.41%, 1.24% and 1.12%, respectively.

Sonova, Givaudan, UBS Group, Swiss Re, Kuehne & Nagel and Novartis ended lower by 0.5 to 0.9%. Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Life Holding also closed weak.

Nestle gained 0.54%. Geberit, Swisscom and ABB posted modest gains.

In the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech lost more than 4%. Dufry ended 2.08% down, while Julius Baer, Galenica Sante, Flughafen Zurich, Clariant and Ems Chemie Holding shed 0.9 to 1.2%.

DocMorris soared nearly 11%. Tecan Group and VAT Group gained 1.6% and 1.12%, respectively. PSP Swiss Property advanced 0.87%.

Provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's industrial production declined in the second quarter amid contractions in both mining and quarrying and manufacturing output.

Industrial production dropped 0.8% year-over-year in the second quarter, reversing a 4.2% growth in the first quarter. Further, this was the first decrease since the first quarter of 2021.

The output produced in the mining and quarrying sector was 7.3% lower compared to last year, which was worse than the 1.9% drop in June.

Manufacturing production slid 1.1% versus a 4.8% rise in the prior month. Meanwhile, electricity supply segment showed a positive growth of 3.3%.

Data showed that construction output declined at a faster pace of 3.6% yearly in the second quarter, following a 1.3% fall in the preceding three-month period.

Industrial turnover climbed 2.1% in the second quarter, and construction turnover rose 0.3%.

In June, industrial production contracted 2.6% from last year, reversing a 0.1% slight increase in May.