BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended modestly lower on Monday, failing to hold early gains as worries about rising coronavirus cases outweighed optimism about U.S. fiscal stimulus.
The benchmark SMI, which advanced to 10,291.28 in early trades, ended the day with a loss of 22.77 points or 0.22% at 10,184.36, almost near the day's low.
The SMI ended with a gain of 139.17 points or 1.38% at 10,207.13 on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak.
Lonza Group shares shed about 2.7%. Sika ended 1.7% down, while Givaudan, LafargeHolcim, Swisscom, ABB, Alcon and Geberit lost 0.6 to 0.85%.
Among the gainers in the benchmark SMI, Credit Suisse moved up 4.4% and UBS Group gained about 3%. Zurich Insurance Group ended higher by 1.5%.
In the midcap space, VAT Group declined 2.3%, SIG Combibloc slid 1.45%, OC Oerlikon Corp lost 1.2% and Georg Fischer shed about 1%.
Julius Baer shares spurted 6.2% after the company reported an improvement in profitability for the first nine months of 2020. The wealth manager said its profitability improved in the first nine months of 2020 as client activity increased and it cut costs, though it is taking another 177 million euro ($207 million) goodwill charge from its ailing Italian unit Kairos.
Flughafen Zurich shares gained about 3%. Dufry, Cembra Money Bank and AMS moved up 1 to 1.2%.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX