The Switzerland market ended marginally down on Wednesday after spending much of the days session in negative territory, as investors largely refrained from making significant moves, choosing to wait for more clarity about the quantum of interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The benchmark SMI ended down 16.45 points or 0.13% at 12,250.11, after moving in a very narrow range between 12,215.53 and 12,274.31.
Alcon ended down 2.32% on weak results. The eye care product companys second-quarter revenue and EBIT margin fell below market expectations. However, the company recorded a year-over-year rise in net sales to third parties to $2.48 billion from $2.40 billion, while net income also increased to $223 million from $169 million.
Sonova, Swiss Life Holding, Lonza Group, UBS Group, Julius Baer and Partners Group lost 0.3 to 1%.
Holcim gained 0.83% and Richemont ended 0.7% up. Sandoz Group climbed 0.53%, while Swatch Group and Givaudan ended higher by 0.39% and 0.34%, respectively.
Although there are expectations the Fed will cut interest rate next month, revised data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed job growth in the U.S. was weaker than previously reported in the twelve months ended March 2024, has raised some concerns about growth.
The BLS said the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from March 2023 to March 2024 than initially reported, reflecting 0.5% weaker job growth.
The data showed a significant downward revision to job growth in the professional and business services sector, which added 358,000 fewer jobs than previously reported.