The Swiss Stock Market Fell After Disappointing U.S. Manufacturing Report

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market got off to a positive start Thursday and maintained modest gains for the bulk of the session. However, the market sank going into the close following the weak opening on Wall Street and the disappointing U.S. manufacturing report.

Manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in August, falling to 49.4 from 52.6 in July, with the reading below 50 indicating the first contraction in manufacturing activity since February. Economists had expected the index to show a much more modest decrease to a reading of 52.2. Traders will be keeping a close eye on tomorrow's highly anticipated U.S. jobs report for August.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.73 percent Thursday and finished at 8,142.64. The SMI reached an intraday high of 8241 points. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.42 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.61 percent.

The weak performance of the index heavyweights had a negative impact on the overall market. Roche weakened by 1.0 percent despite the announcement that it is seeking approval from the U.S. FDA for its drug Tecentriq for advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The drug is already approved for the treatment of bladder cancer. Novartis also surrendered 1.7 percent.

Shares of Nestle also dropped 0.7 percent. Nestlé Health Science announced that it has agreed to acquire medical device company Phagenesis. Baked goods manufacturer Aryzta was also among the weakest stocks of the session, with a loss of 1.5 percent.

Galenica also declined 1.6 percent. The company announced that its tender offer to acquire shares of Relypsa at US$32 per share has expired. A total of 38,673,841 shares of Relypsa's outstanding common stock were validly tendered or approximately 85.6 percent of Relypsa's outstanding shares. Galenica intends to complete its acquisition of Relypsa.

Julius Baer was among the top performing stocks of the session, with an increase of 1.8 percent. Credit Suisse added 0.3 percent, but UBS declined 0.7 percent.

Sika climbed 0.9 percent after it agreed to acquire FRC Industries, a U.S. concrete fiber producer.