The Greek debt crisis, which has put pressure on stocks since June, continued to drag down the Swiss stock market during Monday's early trading. The country's major equity index is down three-quarters of a percent in mid-day trading, after a meeting of euro finance ministers over the weekend did not lead to a breakthrough.
The finance ministers agreed in principle on a rescue involving private creditors. However, details were left to be decided next month.
The benchmark SMI is down 0.73 percent in mid-day trading to 6,100.08, off its low of the day of 6,070. The SLI is down 1.04 percent to 942.21. The SPI is down 0.82 percent to 5,598.10.
Insurance and bank stocks are being pushed down by the Greek concerns. Swiss Life is down 4.0 percent, giving up gains seen on Friday. Swiss Re is down 2.0 percent and ZFS is off by 1.0 percent.
Syngenta is another notable loser on the day, falling 1.4 percent on negative analyst comments. JP Morgan lowered its rating on the agrochemicals company to Underweight from Neutral.
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