Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Monday, after closing the previous two sessions on a firm note. Investors chose to take some profits as a lack of positive triggers rendered the mood cautious. A slight drop in the unemployment rate helped limit market's downside a bit.

The benchmark SMI, which moved slightly above the flat line till about an hour before noon, dropped to a low of 14,235.13 in later afternoon trades before settling at 14,302.26, down 121.98 points or 0.85% from previous close.

Roche shed about 2.6%. Kuehne + Nagel, Sandoz Group, VAT Group, Geberit and Novartis lost 2.2%-2.5%.

Givaudan drifted lower by about 1.6%. Swisscom, Sika and Lindt & Spruengli closed down by 1.3%-1.5%.

Nestle lost a little over 1%, while Richemont, Galderma Group, Schindler PS and ABB ended modestly lower.

Julius Baer climbed nearly 2%. Sonova moved up 1.87%, while Swiss Life Holding and UBS Group gained 1.79% and 1.72%, respectively.

Lonza Group, Logitech International, Swiss Re, Straumann Holding, Holcim and Zurich Insurance advanced 0.5%-1.1%.

In economic news, Switzerland's unemployment rate decreased slightly in June after remaining stable in May, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, said.

The unadjusted unemployment rate dropped to 2.9% in June from 3% in May. Meanwhile, the rate was expected to remain steady at 3%.

In the corresponding month last year, the jobless rate was 2.7%.