The Swiss Stock Market Declined Tuesday, With Weakness In Heavyweights

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session in negative territory. Investors were cautious, due to continued concerns regarding the policy of the major central banks. The overall market was dragged lower by the weak performance of its most heavily weighted defensive stocks.

Investors continue to search for clues to possible monetary policy measures. The chief concern remains when the Federal Reserve will decide to begin tapering its stimulus measures. The U.S. released weaker than expected consumer confidence data Tuesday and some better than expected housing data.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.78 percent Tuesday and finished at 8,256.22. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.57 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.64 percent.

Nestle was the top decliner among the index heavyweights, with a loss of 1.6 percent. Novartis dropped by 1.0 percent and Roche lost 0.4 percent.

Santhera climbed by 8.9 percent, after it announced that it is going ahead as planned in the clinical development of Catena/Raxone in the treatment of the muscle disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Orascom dropped by 3.9 percent, after its third quarter loss came in larger than in the prior year. However, the company's outlook was cautiously optimistic.