Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent long spell in negative territory, the Switzerland market briefly moved above the flat line around mid afternoon on Tuesday, but retreated soon and finally ended the day's session with a moderate loss.

The mood was a bit bearish after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated on social media that he would impose tariffs on all imports from Mexico, Canada and China immediately after taking office in January 2025.

The benchmark SMI closed down 45.71 points or 0.39% at 11,632.88, after scaling a low of 11,590.67 and a high of 11,690.90 intraday.

UBS Group closed down 2.1%, weighed down by a Reuters report that the lender's Chinese joint venture partner Beijing State-owned Asset Management is auctioning off its 33% stake in UBS Securities for 1.5 billion yuan. The sale potentially paves the way for the Swiss banking group to take full control of the joint venture, in which it owns a 67% interest.

Schindler Ps and SIG Group lost about 2% and 1.9%, respectively. Holcim closed down 1.51%, while Sika, Lindt & Spruengli, VAT Group, Swisscom, ABB, Geberit, Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding and Sandoz Group ended lower by 0.8 to 1.1%.

Sonova, Adecco, Julius Baer, Givaudan and Straumann Holding also closed weak.

Alcon climbed about 1.8%. Richemont advanced nearly 1%, and Lonza Group gained 0.84%.

Trump said he would impose 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada on his first day in office, blaming the countries for the influx of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs into the U.S.

"This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" Trump said.

Trump said in a subsequent post that he would also impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese products, claiming the country has not done enough to stop the "massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States."