The Swiss Stock Market Dipped Friday, As U.S. Concerns Linger

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a modest decline. The market began the session in positive territory, but slipped into the red following a disappointing bond auction in Italy. Weak consumer sentiment from the U.S. added to the weakness in the afternoon.

Thursday's threat by the People of Freedom Party to leave parliament if former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expelled from it caused the yield on Italian government bonds to rise. Investor sentiment continued to be impacted by concerns over a possible government shutdown in the U.S. Lawmakers continue to wrangle over legislation to keep the government running past next Monday.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.08 percent Friday and finished at 8,055.00. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 0.6 percent. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.07 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index also lost 0.7 percent.

Holcim fell by 0.80 percent, after it was downgraded to ''Neutral'' from Overweight'' at HSBC. Transocean, Clariant, ABB and Geberit all finished with losses between 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent.

Roche climbed by 0.4 percent Friday, but Novartis fell by 0.4 percent. UBS removed Novartis from its "Most preferred" list. Credit Suisse gained 0.6 percent, but UBS fell by 0.5 percent. Julius Baer also declined by 0.3 percent.