The Switzerland stock market ended modestly lower on Tuesday as worries about surging coronavirus cases came to the fore again and outweighed positive developments on the vaccine front.
After flat and cautious start, the market moved higher, but slipped into the red around noon and stayed weak till the end.
The benchmark SMI ended down 21.62 points or 0.2% at 10,565.12. It touched a high of 10,628.41 and a low of 10,540.72 in the session.
The SMI ended with a gain of 94.13 points or 0.9% on Monday, as stocks rose amid rising optimism about coronavirus vaccine after Moderna Inc. said the phase 3 trial of its vaccine proved 94.5% efficient in preventing COVID-19 infection.
Lonza Group shares lost over 5%. Alcon declined 2.1% and Roche Holding ended lower by 1.3%. Sika and Partners Group lost 0.77% and 0.65%, respectively.
Among the gainers, Swiss Re moved up 2.1% and Richemont ended nearly 2% up. Swiss Life Holding and Swatch Group added about 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively, while Zurich Insurance Group, ABB and Credit Suisse advanced by 1 to 1.2%.
In the midcap section, Sonova and AMS both ended lower by about 4.2%. Tecan Group and Logitech slid 2.6% and 2.5%, respectively, while Dufry eased by about 2%.
On the other hand, Vifor Pharma gained 2.4%, Kuehne & Nagel and VAT Group gained 1.4% each, while Helvetia and Schindler both ended higher by 1.05%.
In coronavirus update, the number of new cases rose by 4,560 on Tuesday, according to data from Swiss health authorities. However, the increase was less than the average of 5,980 daily new cases a week ago.
The total number of confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to 274,534, the authorities said.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
