Swiss Market Settles Flat

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland market opened on a slightly positive note Friday morning, but slipped into the red soon thereafter and then stayed weak right through the day's session, amid concerns about valuations of AI related stocks, and worries about the outlook for near term economic growth.

The benchmark SMI, which edged up to 12,330.34 in early trades, dropped to a low of 12,217.38 a little past noon, and finally ended the day's session at 12,298.35, down 0.51 points.

Galderma Group ended nearly 3% down. Sandoz Group closed lower by 2.51% and Sonova ended almost 2% down.

Logitech International, VAT Group and UBS Group settled lower by 1.4 to 1.5%. Richemont, Amrize, ABB and Swiss Life Insurance lost 0.8 to 1%.

Swatch Group climbed 2.58%. Swisscom advanced nearly 2%, while Roche Holding and Givaudan ended higher by 1.21% and 1.18%, respectively, and Lindt & Spruengli gained nearly 1%.

In economic news, survey results from the Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed confidence among Swiss consumers remained pessimistic in October.

The consumer confidence index stood at -37.0 in October, the same as in September. Moreover, the consumer sentiment index remained well below the long-term average. In the corresponding month last year, the reading was also -37.0.