Swiss Market Ends Flat

(RTTNews) - After staying positive till well past mid afternoon, the Switzerland stock market fell into the red on Thursday but recovered some lost ground and finally ended flat with select shares finding some good support at lower levels.

The mood in the market was cautious with investors looking for directional clues.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to 11,114.72 after climbing to 11,205.01, settled at 11,154.58, down 0.52 points from the previous close.

Sika rallied 3.8%. Lonza Group surged 2.5%, while Geberit, Richemont, Logitech and Partners Group gained 1.3 to 1.8%.

Zurich Insurance Group climbed 1.72%. The Swiss insurer reported a 25% rise in first-half operating profit, driven by an underlying improvement across all businesses.

Roche Holding drifted down more than 2%. Novartis ended lower by 1.8% and Alcon shed 0.77%.

In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Temenos Group rallied 4.8%. Sonova, AMS, Lindt & Spruengli Part, Straumann Holding and Tecan Group gained 2.7 to 3.1%.

Dufry gained more than 2%. Georg Fischer, Lindt & Spruengli N, VAT Group, Bachem Holding, BB Biotech and Cembra Money Bank also posted strong gains.