(RTTNews) - After opening marginally up Thursday morning, the Switzerland market moved in a tight range around the flat line till mid afternoon before drifting lower and finishing with a modest loss.
Data showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer price inflation in the month of September weighed on sentiment. Another data showed an increase in initial jobless claims in the U.S. in the week ended October 5th.
The benchmark SMI ended down 45.17 points or 0.37% at 12,077.78. The index, which advanced to 12,150.68 in early trades, touched a low of 12,070.14 a few minutes before close.
Lonza Group and Sika ended nearly 2% down from their previous closing levels. VAT Group closed down 1.71%, while ABB, Sonova, Partners Group and Kuehne + Nagel lost 1.25 to 1.6%.
Geberit, Holcim, Novartis, Alcon, Julius Baer and Richemont also ended weak.
Swiss Re climbed 2.75%. Sandoz Group and SIG Group closed higher by 1.88% and 1.47%, respectively. Straumann Holding, Zurich Insurance Group and Givaudan poarws modest gains.
Flughafen Zurich shares ended modestly higher after the company reported a 4.6% (year-over-year) increase in passenger traffic in September. The Zurich Airport operator's turnover likewise grew 2.3% annually to 57.1 million francs.
