Swiss Market Settles Slightly Up

(RTTNews) - After a spell in positive territory early on in the session on Monday, the Switzerland market struggled for support and drifted down into negative territory past mid afternoon, but finally managed to end the day's session slightly up.

Most of the markets across Europe closed higher today after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on trade with China, saying that everything would be "fine" and that Washington was not looking to "hurt" China.

The focus was also on France, where Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who was reappointed on Friday, unveiled his cabinet amid budget turmoil that is scaring businesses and investors.

The mood remained cautious, and activity was mostly stock specific.

The benchmark SMI settled with a small gain of 3.39 points or 0.03% at 12,484.80. The index scaled a low of 12,437.14 and a high of 12,546.55 intraday.

VAT Group climbed nearly 3%. Swatch Group, Lindt & Spruengli, Amrize, UBS Group, Holcim and Sika gained 1 to 1.5%.

Alcon, Givaudan, ABB, Richemont, Lonza Group and Sonova closed with modest gains.

Roche Holding settled flat. The FDA approved a blood test developed by Roche and Eli Lilly to aid in the initial assessment for Alzheimer's disease.

Swisscom ended nearly 2% down. Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance, Logitech International, Julius Baer, Galderma Group and Novartis lost 0.4 to 1%.