Swiss Market Ends Marginally Down

(RTTNews) - After opening slightly below the flat line Monday morning, the Swiss market very nearly made it to positive territory around mid morning, but edged lower and eventually ended the day's session on a weak note.

The benchmark SMI ended down 16.12 points or 0.14% at 11,477.80. The index touched a low of 11,424.79 and a high of 11,493.47 in the session.

Kuehne & Nagel ended 2.5% down. Logitech International ended lower by about 1.6%. Nestle, Richemont, Lonza Group and Sika lost 0.4 to 0.6%.

Holcim and Swisscom gained 0.98% and 0.64%, respectively. Swiss Re, ABB and Roche Holding posted modest gains.

In the Mid Price Index, Meyer Burger Tech tanked 12.4%. Adecco ended lower by 2.6%. PSP Swiss Property, Avolta and Swatch Group lost 0.8 to 1%.

Belimo Holding, VAT Group, Sandoz, ams OSRAM AG and Lindt & Spruengli gained 1.3 to 2%. Temenos Group, BKW, Flughafen Zurich, Temenos Group and Schindler Holding also closed higher.

Data published by the Federal Statistical Office showed Swiss consumer price inflation weakened to the lowest level in more than two years in February, softening to 1.2% in the month, from 1.3% in January. However, the rate was slightly above economists' forecast of 1.1%.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices posted an increase of 0.6% mainly reflecting rising housing rentals and air transport. Core consumer prices gained 0.7% on month, taking the annual growth to 1.1%.

The Swiss National Bank forecast inflation at 1.9% this year and 1.6% for 2025.