Swiss Market Snaps Two-Day Rally

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 160 points or 1.5 percent.

The SMI opened modestly lower on Friday and remained in the red throughout the session. The decline was in line with the rest of Europe as London and France also saw mild losses, while Germany posted slight gains.

The markets got a lift from eagerly awaited employment data from the United States, which came in better than expected and allayed fears of a global economic slowdown.

However, the data also tempered optimism for the outlook of interest rates; many pundits were expecting the FOMC to slow its pace of interest rate hikes, but this jobs report may allow them to continue raising rates at their current trajectory.

On Friday, the SMI slumped 40.07 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 11,198.13 after trading between 11,122.68 and 11,234.25.

Among the actives, Credit Suisse skyrocketed 9.30 percent, while Sika stumbled 1.75 percent, Lonza Group retreated 0.98 percent, Zurich Insurance declined 0.82 percent, Nestle dropped 0.63 percent, UBS Group shed 0.52 percent, ABB added 0.30 percent and Novartis rose 0.05 percent.

On the corporate front, BorgWarner Inc. (BWA) said that it has acquired Swiss company Drivetek AG. The transaction has an enterprise value of up to 35 million Swiss francs, of which 25 million francs was delivered at closing. An additional 10 million francs could be paid in the form of contingent payments over the next three years.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said on Friday that it has imposed a fine of CHF 4 million on ABB Ltd. (ANN.L, ABB), a Swedish-Swiss technology firm, for its failure to take necessary organizational provisions to prevent bribery payments to foreign officials in South Africa.