Save for a brief while at the start and a few minutes around mid-morning, the Switzerland was down in negative territory on Tuesday as worries about a surge in coronavirus cases across Europe and stricter lockdown measures at many places rendered the mood bearish.
Data showing strong exports growth helped limit the market's losses.
The benchmark SMI ended down 38.13 points or 0.37% at 10,146.23. The index, which advanced to 10,204.98 around mid-morning, dropped to a low of 10,122.52 a little past noon.
On Monday, the SMI ended with a loss of 22.77 points or 0.22% at 10,184.36.
Alcon declined by about 2%. Roche Holding slid 1.4%, while Swisscom ended 1.2% down. SGS and Novartis ended lower by 1.1% and 1%, respectively.
UBS Group shares climbed 2.65% after the bank pledged to boost payouts after its quarterly profit nearly doubled.
Richemont moved up nearly 1.5%, while Swatch Group and Credit Suisse both ended nearly 0.5% up.
In the midcap section, BB Biotech declined 2.2%, While Galenica Sante, Temenos Group and OC Oerlikon Corp lost 1 to 1.25%.
Logitech International shares soared nearly 16% after the company reported a whopping 75% jump in quarterly sales.
Dufry ended more than 10% up after Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said it is taking a 6.1% stake in the company as part of a roughly $900 million capital increase.
Flughafen Zurich gained 2.2% and Kuehne & Nagel advanced 1.5%, while Helvetia and PSP Swiss Property gained about 1% each.
Data from the Federal Customs Administration showed Swiss exports grew at a faster rate in the third quarter, rising by a real 9.9% sequentially, after a 12.2% decrease in the second quarter. Imports increased 9% in the third quarter, after a 13% decline in the previous quarter.
In nominal terms, exports rose 6.5% quarterly and imports grew 11.5% in the third quarter.
The trade surplus fell to CHF 8.165 billion in the third quarter from CHF 9.565 billion in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2019, the trade surplus was CHF 6.166 billion.
In September, exports fell 2.1% monthly, after a 3% rise in August. Imports increased 2.1% month-on-month in September, after a 0.5% fall in the prior month.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports declined 12% year-on-year in September, broadly the same as in August.
The Swiss government has tightened restrictions to tackle the second wave of the coronavirus hitting the country and instructed people across the entire country to wear masks masks. Large scale public gatherings have been banned.
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