BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Switzerland's equity benchmark SMI ended notably lower on Wednesday as stocks failed to hold early gains and kept edging lower past mid-morning amid cautious moves by investors, who reacted to earnings and assessed the potential impact of fresh strikes by the U.S. and Iran in the Middle East.
Investors also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.
The SMI, which advanced to a new record high of 14,656.05 in early trades, ended the session with a loss of 85.23 points or 0.58% at 14,486.10.
VAT Group ended nearly 4% down. Richemont dropped 2.66% and Amrize drifted lower by 2.1%.
Roche, Partners Group, ABB and Schindler Ps lost 1.2%-1.7%. Zurich Insurance, Geberit, Holcim, Julius Baer, Swiss Re, Kuehne + Nagel and Novartis shed 0.5%-0.9%.
Sandoz Group climbed about 3.75%. Lonza Group rallied 2.6%. Lindt & Spruengli ended 1.65% up.
Sika, Straumann Holding, Alcon and SGS moved up 0.8%-1.4%. UBS Group moved higher after reporting second-quarter net profit of $2.8 billion, up 17% from a year earlier.
In economic news, a report from the UBS & CFA Society showed Swiss investor sentiment improved to 10.0 in July from -25.0 in June, returning to positive territory for the first time since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in February.
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