Swiss Market Ends Modestly Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended weak on Friday, in line with markets across Europe, as concerns about the health of U.S. regional banks hurt sentiment and triggered a sell-off in financials stocks across the globe.

Zions Bancorporation, a Utah-based lender, said it would write off $50m on two loans, while Phoenix-headquartered Western Alliance said it had started legal proceedings over a bad loan said to be worth $100m.

Worries about U.S.-China trade tensions weighed as well on investor sentiment.

The benchmark SMI, which dropped to a low of 12,476.92, staged a smart recovery, but still ended the day's session on a negative note at 12,644.49, losing 57.59 points or 0.45%.

Partners Group ended 3.57% down, and UBS Group lost 3.2%. Julius Baer, VAT Group and Amrize closed lower by 2.88%, 2.45%, and 2.19%, respectively.

Holcim, Swiss Re, Swiss Life Holding, ABB, Straumann Holding, Galderma Group, Geberit and Alcon lost 1 to 2%.

Nestle gained nearly 2%. Lonza Group, Givaudan, Kuehne + Nagel and Swisscom closed higher by 0.7 to 1%. SGS moved up 0.32%.