Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower As Virus Spread Dents Recovery Hopes

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Monday, tracking losses in markets across the globe amid a surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus and the resultant fresh lockdown restrictions in several countries.

The benchmark SMI, which plunged to a low of 11,799.23, ended the session with a loss of 164.42 points or 1.37% at 11,862.08.

Except Givaudan, which ended higher by about 1.1%, all the other components of the benchmark SMI closed in negative territory.

Swiss Re shed 4.29%, and Richemont, Swiss Life Holding and Holcim lost 3.3 to 3.6%, while UBS Group, Swatch Group, ABB, Zurich Insurance Group, Credit Suisse and SGS ended lower by 2 to 3%.

Partners Group closed nearly 2% down, while Novartis and Sika declined by 1.65% and 1.37%, respectively.

Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry and Helvetia ended lower by 4.7% and 4.1%, respectively. Flughafen Zurich, OC Oerlikon Corp, Cembra Money Bank and Adecco lost 3 to 3.7%.

Julius Baer ended nearly 3% down. Baloise Holding, AMS, Swiss Prime Site and Clariant lost 2 to 2.5%, while Lindt & Spruengli, VAT Group, Straumann Holding, Sonova and Tecan Group posted modest gains.

According to the Federal Office of Public Health, the delta vairant has made rapid inroads in Switzerland, accounting for 77% of new cases by mid-July. The office blames the less cautious behavior of the population following the lifting of most restrictive measures as the reason for the surge.

The country reported 1552 new cases in the last 24-hours, substantially higher than the 7-day average of 509 cases.