Swiss Market Ends Marginally Down

(RTTNews) - After opening marginally up and advancing further, the Switzerland stock market stayed positive till about a couple of hours past noon on Monday before turning weak ending the session marginally down.

Stocks moved higher early on in the session as last Friday's mixed jobs data from the U.S. raised hopes the Federal Reserve is down with raising interest rates. Expectations of more stimulus in China helped as well.

However, the mood turned cautious midway through the session.

The benchmark SMI, which climbed to 11,141.31 around mid morning, ended with a loss of 21.56 points or 0.19% at 11,053.59.

Kuehne & Nagel ended 1.65% down. Holcim, Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance Group, Roche Holding, Swiss Re and Alcon lost 0.5 to 0.9%.

Swiss food and beverage giant Nestle SA ended 0.4% down. The stock moved higher earlier in the session after the company announced the divestment of its peanut allergy treatment business, Palforzia, to Stallergenes Gree.

UBS Group, Partners Group and Logitech gained 1 to 1.25%. Richemont climbed 0.8%, while Lonza Group advanced about 0.6%.

In the Mid Price Index, Clariant dropped 3%. DocMorris ended 1.85% down, and Bachem Holding declined 1.1%.

Temenos Group, Schindler Holding, Schindler Ps, Barry Callebaut, Helvetia and Galenic Sante ended lower by 0.5 to 1%.

Straumann Holding surged nearly 2%. AMS, Swatch Group and Meyer Burger Tech gained 1.7%, 1.55% and 1.39%, respectively. VAT Group advanced by about 1%.

Official data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed the Swiss economic output was stable in the second quarter as the improvement in household consumption was offset by the fall in investment.

Gross domestic product stayed flat from the first quarter, when the economy expanded by 0.3%. Economists had expected a 0.1% rise for the June quarter.

GDP, adjusted for sports events, also logged a flat change after posting 0.9% growth in the March quarter.

The industry saw a decline in value added, while the service sector again grew at an above-average rate, data showed. The construction sector suffered a setback, hit by shrinking revenues in all segments.

On the expenditure side, private consumption grew 0.4% compared to the prior quarter, driven by healthcare and food and accommodation services. Government consumption showed an increase of 0.1%.

Exports of goods dropped 1.2%, while shipments of services rose 2.6%. Imports of goods fell markedly by 7.2%, while those of services gained 1.5%.

On a yearly basis, economic growth slowed to 0.5% from 1.5%. The rate came in line with expectations.