Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Friday due to sustained selling at several counters.

Worries about slowing growth and rising interest rates, and escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine hurt the market.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 127.95 points or 1.18% at 10,729.40, the day's low. The index shed about 17% in 2022.

All the components of the SMI and the Mid Price Index ended in negative territory.

Credit Suisse, Swiss Re, Sika, Lonza Group, Partners Group, ABB, Novartis, Richemont and Zurich Insurance Group lost 1.3 to 2%.

Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding, UBS Group, Nestle and Sonova also ended notably lower.

In the Mid Price Index, Zur Rose drifted down 3.62%. Tecan Group ended lower by 2.2%, while Flughafen Zurich, VAT Group, Bachem Holding, Adecco, Georg Fischer, Roche Holding, Swatch Group and Ems Chemie Holding lost 1.3 to 1.6%.

In economic news, Switzerland's economic outlook is set to improve somewhat at the beginning of 2023, results of a key survey by KOF Swiss Economic Institue showed.

The economic barometer rose to a three-month high of 92.2 points in December from 89.5 in September, which was revised from 89.2, the KOF Swiss Economic Institute said. Economists had forecast a score of 90.5.

The KOF barometer, which is a leading indicator for turning points in the Swiss economy, improved for the first time in six months.