Swiss Market Ends Lower Again

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market ended on a weak note on Tuesday, in line with market across Europe, as uncertainty over U.S. - EU trade talks and a lack of positive data rendered the mood cautious.

The benchmark SMI closed down 43.07 points or 0.36% at 11,893.82, settling lower for a second straight session. The index touched a low of 11,843.78 and a high of 11,919.57 in the session.

Lindt & Spruengli tumbled more than 7%. The chocolate maker reported a sharp 13.3% decline (y-o-y) in first half net income to CHF 188.9 million and a 11.3% drop in EBIT to CHF 259.2 million.

Givaudan ended 5.47% down. The group reported a net income of CHF 592 million in the first-half, compared with CHF 588 million a year ago. Sales were up at CHF 3.86 billion, from CHF 3.74 billion a year ago. Operating cash flow plunged 41.9% over the period to 248 million francs.

VAT Group, Partners Group, Julius Baer and ABB lost 2 to 2.6%. Adecco ended 1.8% down, and Sika closed lower by 1.33%.

Lonza Group, Logitech International, Straumann Holding, Zurich Insurance, Kuehne + Nagel, Swiss Re, SIG Group and Geberit settled lower by 0.6 to 1.2%.

Swatch Group climbed 3.13%. Sandoz Group ended nearly 1% up. Swisscom, Novartis, Nestle and UBS Group gained 0.6 to 0.75%.