Swiss Market Ends Sharply Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended sharply lower on Monday, in line with markets across Europe, as worries about rising cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, and fears of a series of interest rate hikes by central banks weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark SMI, which opened slightly higher, plunged to a low of 12,560.70 during the closing minutes of the session before settling at 12,597.35, netting a loss of 200.59 points or 1.57%.

Sika declined 5.55%. Lonza Group ended nearly 5% down, while Alcon, Geberit, Partners Group, Givaudan and ABB shed 3.4 to 4.2%.

Richemont lost 2.89%, Nestle declined by about 2.1%, while SGS and Roche Holding shed 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.

Swisscom and Credit Suisse advanced 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively. Zurich Insurance Group and Novartis both gained 0.81%, while Holcim and Swiss Re both moved up 0.7%.

Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Straumann Holding and Kuehne & Nagel lost 7.4% and 7%, respectively. VAT Group, Ems Chemie Holding, Galenica Sante, Sonova, AMS, Tecan Group, Schindler Holding and Georg Fischer ended lower by 3.2 to 6%.

Flughafen Zurich climbed 1.7%, while Adecco gained 0.55%.

In Switzerland, virus cases are on the rise in recent days. Swiss health officials have recommended an extension of booster jabs, which started with the most vulnerable, to anyone aged over 16. According to reports, around 67% of the population has received two doses of vaccine so far. Around 22% of the population has received a booster shot.