Swiss Market Ends Lower On Profit Taking, Weak Exports Data

(RTTNews) - After a weak start and a subsequent choppy ride that saw stocks swinging between gains and losses, the Switzerland market ended on a weak note on Tuesday as selling gathered momentum in late afternoon trades.

Weak exports data for the month of July weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark SMI ended down 55.20 points, or 0.56%, at 9,770.39. The index scaled a high of 9,861.87 and a low of 9,768.35 in the session.

On Monday, the index ended up 1%, after having moved up 1.27% a session earlier.

Sika ended lower by nearly 2%. LafargeHolcim shed 1.3% and Givaudan declined 1.15%. SGS and Nestle also ended lower by more than 1%.

Credit Suisse, ABB, Roche Holding, Swiss Re and Adecco shed 0.5 to 0.9%, while Alcon, Zurich Insurance Group and Richemont posted modest gains.

In the midcap space, AMS ended lower by 2%. OC Oerlikon Group, Kuehne & Nagel, Straumann Holding, Vifor Pharma and Temenos Group declined 1 to 1.7%.

Komax Holdings shares gained about 1.3%. The company its revenues slipped 14.2% and group profit plunged nearly two-thirds to 10.7 million francs in the first-half. Order intake was down 19.2% in the first-half, the company said.

Data released by the Federal Customs Administration showed Switzerland's exports dropped by a real 1.8% on month in July, after a 2.5% rise in June. At the same time, imports dropped 0.5% following a 1.3% decline in June.

In nominal terms, exports declined 3.9% in July and imports fell 1.7%.

Consequently, the trade surplus fell to CHF 2.67 billion in July from CHF 3.17 billion in the previous month.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, watch exports rose 4.3% year-on-year in July following the downturn in June.

Most of the markets across Europe ended weak today. The pan European Stoxx 600 declined 0.68%. Among the major markets in Europe, the U.K. ended with sharp losses with its benchmark FTSE 100 going down by 0.9%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 shed 0.55% and 0.5%, respectively.