The Switzerland stock market ended sharply lower on Monday, in line with the trend seen across the globe, as worries about a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in several parts and tighter lockdown restrictions rendered the mood bearish.
The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 218.34 points or 2.07% at 10,305.52. The index touched a low of 10,237.94 in the session.
Swiss Re tumbled 3.3%. LafargeHolcim, Novartis, Credit Suisse and Richemont lost 2.8 to 3%, while Swiss Life Holding, Zurich Insurance Group, Roche Holding, UBS Group, Swatch Group and Alcon ended lower by 2 to 2.6%, while Nestle lost nearly 2%.
Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry plunged more than 7%. AMS lost 4.4%, while Helvetia, Temenos Group and Swiss Prime Site slid 3.2 to 3.6%.
Flughafen Zurich, PSP Swiss Property, Lindt & Spruengli, Vifor Pharma, Clariant and Baloise Holding also ended sharply lower.
According to Swiss health authorities, coronavirus cases in Switzerland rose by over 10,000 since Friday. The country is headed toward tougher restrictions on public life starting on Tuesday to curb the spread of the disease.
The data said the total number of confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to nearly 414,000, and the death toll rose by 201 to 6,204.
The Swiss government has ordered people who have entered the country from the United Kingdom and South Africa since December 14 to go into a 10-day quarantine and has imposed a general entry ban for foreign nationals seeking to travel from the two countries.
A statement from the government reads: "Following the discovery of a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus in the UK and South Africa, the Federal Council today decided to take steps to prevent the further spread of this new virus strain." The statement added that no cases of the new strain had been identified so far in Switzerland.
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