Swiss Market Ends Notably Lower On War Jitters, Trade Concerns

(RTTNews) - Swiss stocks opened on a weak note on Thursday and stayed that way right till the end of the day's session as rising concerns about growth and possibility of monetary tightening by central banks amid escalating tensions in the Middle East rendered the mood bearish.

Additionally, news about the US government launching probes into numerous trade partners, including Switzerland, after US President Trump's tariff policy faced legal setbacks last month, weighed on sentiment.

Last month, the US Supreme Court prohibited Trump from using another law to impose tariffs by decree. Following the Supreme Court judgement, Trump announced his intention to use other instruments to enforce his tariff policy.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday that the Section 301 unfair trade practices probe could lead to new levies against countries including Switzerland, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico by this summer.

The benchmark SMI, which scaled a low of 12,796.65 and a high of 12,909.99 intraday, settled with a loss of 116.43 points or 0.9% at 12,842.16.

Holcim shed 3.72% and Roche Holding ended lower by about 3.6%. Galderma Group lost 2.7%, Swiss Life Holding ended 2.3% down, and UBS Group drifted down by about 2.1%.

Sika, Alcon and Amrize lost 1.6%, 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Lonza Group, Straumann Holding, Julius Baer, Kuehne + Nagel and Richemont ended lower by 0.6%-1.1%.

Lindt & Spruengli moved up 4%. Logitech International climbed nearly 2.5% and Givaudan gained 1.4%. Zurich Insurance Group, Swiss Re, Sandoz Group and Nestle gained 0.6%-0.9%.