BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - After spending a few minutes in positive territory at the start, Switzerland's benchmark index SMI slipped into the red and remained weak right through the trading session on Wednesday, as investors weighed the situation in the Middle East, and awaited policy announcements from major central banks, including the Federal Reserve.
The SMI, which advanced to 13,205.44 in early trades, dropped to a low of 13,004.15 intraday before settling at 13,031.90, losing 116.04 points or 0.88%.
Partners Group ended down by a little over 4%. Kuehne + Nagel drifted lower by 3.8%. Swiss Re, Alcon, Richemont and Swiss Life Holding lost 2%-2.7%.
Sandoz Group shares shed about 2.2%. The group reported first quarter net sales of $2.76 billion compared to $2.48 billion, prior year.
Lonza Group, Nestle, Geberit, SGS, Novartis, Roche, Helvetia Baloise Holding and Zurich Insurance closed lower by 1%-1.8%.
Among the gainers, Straumann Holding moved up 4.3% after reporting a 7.1% increase in first-quarter revenue of CHF 673 million.
VAT Group climbed 4.1% and UBS Group advanced 3.25% after net profit surged 80% to $3 billion in the first quarter of current financial year.
Julius Baer gained nearly 2%, while Amrize, Logitech International and Galderma Group gained 0.6%-1%.
In economic news, Swiss investor sentiment rose to -30.3 in April, up from a six-month low of -35.0 in March, according to the UBS & CFA Society Switzerland survey.
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