The Swiss stock exchange closed well down on Tuesday after a day of turbulence caused by fears about the euro and rising tension between North and South Korea.
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The Swiss Market Index (SMI) of 20 top rated companies, slipped 1.85 per cent to 6092 at close of trading, while the more broadly based Swiss Performance Index (SPI) was down 2.11 per cent to 5367.
The market was at its lowest around midday, but picked up slightly in the afternoon.
The worst hit companies were those that are particularly sensitive to the economic climate, including Petroplus, down 6.1 per cent, Clariant, down 5.2 per cent, Swatch, down 4.4 per cent, and Holcim and Adecco, both down 3.6 per cent
It was a bad day for financial shares as well, with Julius Bär bank losing 4.3 per cent, Credit Suisse 3.6 per cent and UBS 3.4 per cent. Insurance companies were also down.
Some of the heavyweights did better: Nestlé lost only 0.6 per cent, and Novartis one per cent.
Stock exchanges fell all over Europe to their lowest close since September.
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Solutions still need to be found to meet the challenge of an ageing population and to improve the pensions of low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women.
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