Swiss Market Ends Higher As Stocks Find Support In Closing Minutes

(RTTNews) - After opening notably lower and languishing in the red till well past noon, the Switzerland stock market found some support in the closing minutes to finish slightly up on Friday.

Worries about the coronavirus spread and continued uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery rendered the mood bearish.

News about U.S. President Donald Trump testing positive for Covid-19 added to concerns.

The benchmark SMI, which fell to a low of 10,130.79 in early trades, ended the session with a gain of 14.28 points or 0.14% at 10,252.40, the day's high.

The index had ended with a gain of 51.12 points or 0.5% at 10,238.12 on Thursday, after posting losses in the previous two sessions.

Credit Suisse gained about 1.1%. Zurich Insurance Group, UBS Group, Swiss Re, Roche Holding, Swisscom and Givaudan moved up 0.6 to 1%.

On the other hand, Richemont slid more than 2.5% and Swatch Group declined about 2.1%. Lonza Group and Alcon lost 1.7% and 1%, respectively.'

Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Straumann Holding surged up nearly 3%. Cembra Money Bank, Lindt & Spruengli and Lindt & Sp Ps gained 1.2 to 1.5%.

Vifor Pharma, BB Biotech, Dufry, AMS, Kuehne & Nagel and Adecco lost 1 to 2%.