Swiss Market Ends Lower Again

(RTTNews) - Save for a few minutes around mid-morning, the Switzerland stock market spent Wednesday's trading session in the red, as investors were reluctant to make significant moves amid continued worries about the economy due to the relentless surge in new coronavirus cases across the world.

Data showing an increase in Swiss unemployment rate weighed as well.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 29.55 points or 0.29% at 10,178.41. The index scaled a low of 10,145.39 and a high of 10,224.07 in the session.

The index ended lower by 45.42 points or 0.44% at 10,207.96 on Tuesday.

Adecco declined 2.3%. Swatch Group, Richemont, Alcon, Swiss Life Holding, LafargeHolcim and Swiss Re lost 1 to 1.6%.

Nestle, ABB and Lonza Group posted modest gains.

In the midcap section, Dufry declined by about 5.4%. AMS shed 3.4%, while Vifor Pharma and Straumann Holding lost 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively.

Helvetia, Sonova, Ems Chemie Holdings, Kuehne & Nagel and Flughafen Zurich lost 0.7% to 1.8%.

On the other hand, Schindler Holding and Schindler Ps gained 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Temenos Group moved up nearly 1%, while Julius Baer and PSP Swiss Property added 0.85% and 0.7%, respectively.

According to the data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, Switzerland's unemployment rate increased slightly in June, rising marginally to a seasonally adjusted 3.3% from 3.2% a month earlier. The rate was well below economists' forecast of 3.6%.

On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in June from 3.4% a month ago. Economists had expected a rate of 3.4%. The number of unemployed fell by 5,709 to 150,289 in June.

The youth unemployment rate, which applies to the 15 to 24 age group, fell to 3.3% in June from 3.4% in the prior month. The youth unemployment decreased by 2.5% to 17,317.