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The Switzerland stock market ended sharply lower on Friday, in line with markets<\/span> across the globe, as rising worries about growth following reports about detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant in South Africa hurt investor sentiment.<\/p>\n The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 250.47 points or 2.01% at 12,199.21, after plunging to a low of 12,157.50.<\/p>\n UBS Group declined 5.8% and Richemont shed about 5.1%, while ABB and Swiss Re both closed lower by about 4.2%.<\/p>\n Credit Suisse, Alcon, Zurich Insurance Group, Holcim, Swiss Life Holding, Novartis, Partners Group and Sika ended lower by 2 to 3.5%. Swisscom, Nestle and SGS also ended sharply lower.<\/p>\n Logitech gained more than 4%. Lonza Group rallied 3.6% and Givaudan ended with a modest gain of 0.62%.<\/p>\n In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Dufry declined 12%. Swatch Group ended 7.1% down and Flughafen Zurich lost 6.8%. Helvetia and Baloise Holding drifted down 4.5% and 4%, respectively.<\/p>\n Clariant, Julius Baer, OC Oerlikon Corp, PSP Swiss Property, Adecco and AMS ended lower by 3 to 4%.<\/p>\n Zur Rose climbed 8.6% and Tecan Group rallied nearly 5%. SIG Combibloc, VAT Group and BB Biotech gained 0.9 to 1.1%.<\/p>\n In economic news, Switzerland’s economic growth slowed slightly in the third quarter, but the expansion was better than expected, preliminary data from the State Secretariat For Economic Affairs or SECO showed.<\/p>\n Gross domestic product grew 1.7% from the second quarter, when the economy<\/span> expanded 1.8%. Economists had forecast 1.6% increase.<\/p>\n Compared to the same quarter a year ago, GDP increased 4.1% after an 8.6% growth in the previous quarter. Economists had forecast 3.2% expansion.<\/p>\n Value added grew significantly in the services sectors due to the further easing of Covid restrictions and private consumption rose substantially, SECO said.<\/p>\n Overall, GDP was more than 1% higher in the third quarter than the pre-crisis level seen in the fourth quarter of 2019, the SECO added. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n