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The Switzerland market spent some time in positive territory Tuesday morning after a cautious start, but retreated soon, and save for a brief while in the final hour, spent the day’s session in the red, as concerns about global growth outlook and geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on sentiment.<\/p>\n
Investors also digested Swiss retail sales and unemployment data.<\/p>\n
The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 11,613.79, dropped to a low of 11,417.16, and eventually ended with a loss of 32.79 points or 0.28% at 11,510.46.<\/p>\n
Data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) showed Switzerland’s unemployment rate remained stable for the third straight month in July, coming in at 2.3%, the same as in the previous three months.<\/p>\n
In the corresponding month last year, the jobless rate was 1.9%. Data also showed that the seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 2.5% in July, up from 2.4% in June. <\/p>\n
Swiss retail sales declined 2.2% in June, declining for the second straight month, data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed. Sales were expected to grow 0.5% in June. In May, retail sales fell by 0.2%.<\/p>\n
SGS ended down 1.74%. Kuehne + Nagel, Schindler Ps, Richemont and Roche GS ended down 1.3 to 1.5%.<\/p>\n
Sika, Holcim, Geberit, Sandoz Group and SIG Group lost 0.7 to 1%. Logitech International, Julius Baer, Swisscom and Givaudan also ended weak.<\/p>\n
Sonova rallied more than 6% after the company introduced a hearing aid that utilises real-time artificial intelligence to improve speech clarity from background noise, the first such product in the global market.<\/p>\n
Along with the hearing aid, named Sphere Infinio, Sonova is launching a new Infinio platform, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n
Alcon, Straumann Holding, Swiss Re, Lindt & Spruengli and VAT Group posted moderate gains. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n