BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - After a weak start and a subsequent recovery that
resulted in a positive spell till about a couple of hours past noon, the
Switzerland market turned weak on Monday and ended the day's session moderately
lower.

The benchmark SMI ended down 85.32 points or 0.69% at 12,279.86, near the day's
low. The index touched a high of 12,434.03 in the session.

Richemont dropped 4.16%. Givaudan, Nestle and Sika lost 1.94%, 1.61% and 1.58%,
respectively.

Alcon, Geberi, Novartis and Sonova ended lower by 0.9 to 1.1%. Kuehne & Nagel,
UBS Group and Lonza Group ended modestly lower.

Roche Holding climbed 1.53%. Holcim ended higher by 0.84%. Swisscom and Swiss Re
posted modest gains.

Swatch Group plunged 9.8%. The Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewelry
reported a decline in sales for the first half due to a sharp drop in demand for
luxury goods in China.

Meyer Burger Tech ended down 6.5%. ams OSRAM AG, Ems Chemie Holding, Schindler
Holding, Sandoz, Belimo Holding, Clariant, Georg Fischer, Baloise Holding, Barry
Callebaut, Schindler Ps, Avolda and Addeco ended down 1.2 to 4%.

Flughafen Zurich, VAT Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Julius Baer and Temenos Group
closed higher.

On the economic front, Switzerland's producer and import prices continued to
decline in June, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed.

Producer and import prices dropped 1.9% year-on-year in June, following a 1.8%
drop in the previous month. Prices have been falling since May 2023.

The producer price index dropped 1.2% annually in June, and import prices
registered a decrease of 3.2%.

On a monthly basis, producer and import prices remained flat in June after
falling 0.3% in the previous month. Prices were expected to increase by 0.1%.

Lower monthly prices were observed primarily for mineral products, while those
for food became more expensive.



Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX