The Swiss Stock Market Finished Lower Due To Late Sell-Off

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session solidly in negative territory. The market initially jumped 1.5 percent in the afternoon, following the announcement from the European Central Bank. However, those gains quickly eroded and the market slipped into the red.

Profit taking contributed to the weakness in late trade Thursday, as investors took the opportunity to cash in when markets in Europe were in rally mode. Comments from ECB Mario Draghi also had a negative impact on the market. Draghi made comments which suggest that rates have now reached a bottom.

The ECB stimulus package proved more extensive than expected Thursday. The ECB lowered its benchmark interest rate by five basis points to a record low zero percent. The already-negative deposit rate was cut by 10 basis points to -0.40 percent and the marginal lending facility rate was reduced by five basis points to 0.25 percent. The bank also expanded the monthly purchases under the asset purchase programme by EUR 20 billion to EUR 80 billion starting in April.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 1.03 percent Thursday and finished at 7,893.66. The SMI rose to an intraday high of nearly 8,100 points. The Swiss Leader Index declined 1.22 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.99 percent.

The big banks were among the hardest hit on Thursday. Credit Suisse dropped 1.8 percent and UBS fell 1.7 percent. The shares of both banks had initially jumped by over 2 percent after the ECB announcement.

Transocean was the top decliner of the session, with a loss of 6.3 percent. A decrease in crude oil prices weighed on shares of the oil driller.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Thursday. Roche dropped 1.5 percent and Nestlé weakened by 0.7 percent. Shares of Novartis also dipped 0.1 percent.

Cyclicals were also under pressure. LafargeHolcim tumbled 3.6 percent and ABB surrendered 1.5 percent. Richemont surrendered 1.2 percent and Swatch declined 0.6 percent.