Swiss Market Closes Moderately Lower After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market opened marginally down Tuesday morning and kept edging lower and lower as the session progressed, bucking the somewhat positive trend seen in most of the markets in the region.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 58.98 points or 0.53% at 11,122.37, after sliding to a low of 11,094.84.

Swiss Re ended nearly 3% down. Sika shed about 2.7% and Swisscom declined 1.7%, while Alcon, Zurich Insurance Group and Novartis lost 1.1 to 1.3%. UBS Group, Roche Holding and Credit Suisse closed modetly lower.

Lonza Group shares gained about 2.25%. Shares of fragrance and flavor products manufacturer Givaudan moved up 2.1% after the company reported that its first-quarter sales rose 3.4% from last year.

Partners Group and Richemont gained nearly 2% and 1.6%, respectively.

In the Mid Price section, Julius Baer, Cembra Money Bank, Lindt & Spruengli and Vifor Pharma lost 0.5 to 1.1%.

AMS moved up more than 3%. Tecan Group ended 2.05% up and Clariant gained 1.8%. Kuehne & Nagel and Flughafen Zurich gained 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively.