Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - After a flat start and a subsequent modest upmove, the Switzerland market pared gains and drifted down into negative territory about an hour past noon and finally settled on a weak note.

A lack of fresh triggers, and uncertainty about U.S.-European Union trade deal rendered the mood cautious.

The benchmark SMI closed down 54.36 points or 0.44% at 12,165.27. The index, which advanced to 12,280.50 earlier in the session, dropped to a low of 12,144.64 in the final hour.

Novartis ended down 1.72%. Swiss Re, Nestle, Zurich Insurance, Roche Holding, Swiss Life Holding and Alcon lost 1 to 1.4%.

VAT Group climbed 2.62%, Sika, Straumann Holding and Swatch Group advanced 2.1 to 2.2%, while Kuehne + Nagel, Holcim, Geberit, Partners Group, ABB, UBS Group, Sonova and Richemont gained 1 to 1.4%.

In economic releases, data from the U.S. Labor Department showed the annual inflation in U.S. eased to 2.3% in April from 2.4% in March, below market expectations of 2.4%. The annual core inflation rate stood at 2.8%, unchanged from the previous month and in line with expectations.