The Swiss Stock Market Dropped Back To Around 8,800 Points

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session solidly in negative territory. The market has been struggling this week and is now down around 1.7 percent since the start of the trading week. The index got off to a positive start and climbed above 8,900 points in early trade. However, an afternoon pull back brought the market below the 8,800 point level.

Investors kept close watch on the statements made by several Federal Reserve governors today. The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, stated that the Fed should raise its key interest rate in December. Bullard stated that crisis policy was no longer needed with the labor market and inflation near to the central bank's goals.

The Swiss Market Index declined 0.76 percent Thursday and finished at 8,816.94. The SMI hit an intraday low of 8,755 points and an intraday high of 8,929 points. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.93 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.76 percent.

Swiss Life was among the weakest performers of the session, with a loss of 2.6 percent. The company reported quarter results that were viewed as solid, but the pace of growth had weakened in the third quarter.

Zurich Insurance also fell 0.7 percent on reports that the days of CEO Martin Senn were numbered at the helm of the company. Business magazine "Bilanz" reported that an English Headhunter Company was entrusted with the search for a successor.

LafargeHolcim dropped 2.3 percent and Aryzta surrendered 1.7 percent. The two big banks were also under pressure Thursday. UBS decreased 1.8 percent and Credit Suisse lost 1.6 percent.

Among the index heavyweights, Novartis weakened by 1.0 percent and Nestlé fell 0.4 percent. Shares of Roche finished higher by 0.04 percent.