The Swiss stock market suffered another substantial sell-off on Thursday, with the country's main equity index down more than 3.6 percent.
Shares attempted to bounce back early in the session after a decline so far this week, including a 4-percent slide on Tuesday. However, the market gave way during the afternoon, amid concerns about the debt situation in Europe and amid worries about the economy in the U.S.
The benchmark SMI dropped 3.61 percent on the day to close at 5,285.25. This brought the index to its lowest level in two years. The SLI dropped 4.31 percent to 803.01. The SPI retreated 3.21 percent to 4,868.57.
Cyclical stocks were among the worst performers. Richemont dropped 7.8 percent and Swatch declined 7.4 percent. Meanwhile, Clariant, Adecco, ABB and Logitech were each down more than 5 percent.
Swiss Re saw gains early in the session, but slipped into negative territory in the late-day sell-off. The company reported better-than-expected earnings, but still ended down 1.1 percent.
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