Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended on a weak note on Monday as stocks retreated after staying positive till around mid afternoon.

Worries about growth amid consistently rising interest rates rendered the mood cautious and prompted investors to lighten commitments.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 61.14 points or 0.54% at 11,219.15. The index climbed to a high of 11,332.26 in the session.

Partners Group ended nearly 3% down. Sonova ended lower by 2.56% and Alcon drifted down 2.1%.

ABB and Novartis both ended lower by 1.62%. Sika, Geberit, Richemont, Logitech and Lonza Group lost 0.7 to 1.33%.

UBS Group climbed 1.02%, while Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Life Holding, Swisscom and Nestle posted modest gains.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Bachem Holding declined 5%, Straumann Holding lost 3.65% and VAT Group ended 2.5% down.

Galenica Sante, Belimo Holding and Tecan Holding lost 1.8%, 1.7% and 1.52%, respectively. Schindler Ps, Lindt & Spruengli, Barry Callebaut and SIG Combibloc also ended notably lower.

Swatch Group gained nearly 2.5% and Adecco climbed 2.3%. Swiss Prime Site and PSP Swiss Property gained 1.67% and 1.2%, respectively.

Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's consumer price inflation eased for the fourth straight month in June to the lowest level in nearly one-and-a-half years.

The consumer price index, or CPI, climbed 1.7% year-over-year in June, slower than the 2.2% gain in May.

This was the weakest rate of increase since January last year, when prices had risen 1.6%. Moreover, inflation returned to the central bank's target range of 0-2%.

Overall inflation was largely driven by a 5.1% rise in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, though slightly slower than the 5.3% increase in May.

The annual price growth in housing and energy eased to 2.9% from 3.2%. Meanwhile, transport costs dropped 3.3%.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1% in June after rising 0.3% in the previous month.

Data showed that core inflation slowed to 1.8% from 1.9%. The monthly rate of change was flat.