The Swiss Stock Market Dropped On Weak Performance Of Index Heavyweights

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Wednesday's session firmly in the red, following the gains of the past two sessions. The market got off to a weak start and reached its intraday low around midday. The market did manage to pare its losses in the afternoon. The weak performance of the defensive heavyweights pressured the overall market.

A Bloomberg report that the European Central Bank will probably wind down its $90-billion monthly bond purchases before the scheduled conclusion had investors in a cautious mood. Investors are also awaiting the release of the U.S. jobs report at the end of the week. U.S. economic data proved mixed today, with a weaker than expected private sector employment report, but better than expected reads on both factory orders and the non-manufacturing index.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.43 percent Wednesday and finished at 8,195.23. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.18 percent and the Swiss Performance Index dropped 0.43 percent.

The cyclicals turned in a weak performance Wednesday. Aryzta declined 2.6 percent, Sika dropped 2.0 percent and Kuehne + Nagel surrendered 1.7 percent. SGS weakened by 1.2 percent, Geberit forfeited 0.7 percent and ABB lost 0.4 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in negative territory. Nestle decreased 1.3 percent, while Novartis and Roche both weakened by 0.5 percent. The U.S. FDA granted a breakthrough designation to Roche's Actemra drug.

The bank stocks remained on the path to recovery. UBS climbed 1.9 percent and Credit Suisse rose 1.1 percent. Julius Baer also increased 1.6 percent after RBC rated the stock at "Outperform."