The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back On Pharma Weakness

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session with a significant loss. Investors have withdrawn to the sidelines ahead of tomorrow's speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole. Disappointing German business confidence data also weighed on investor sentiment. The weak performance of the pharma heavyweights also pressured the overall market.

Friday's highly anticipated speech by Janet Yellen has been holding the markets in check for the better part of the week. Traders will be looking for clues regarding the outlook for U.S. interest rates in Yellen's remarks.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.71 percent Thursday and finished at 8,141.28. The SMI reached an intraday low of 8,099 points. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.56 percent Thursday and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.64 percent.

The pharmaceutical heavyweights were under heavy pressure Thursday. Novartis dropped 1.5 percent and Roche weakened by 1.3 percent. Drug and biotech stocks around the globe were hard hit by comments from U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton late Wednesday. Clinton criticized the pricing practices of biotech company Mylan and has previously expressed a willingness to take action against high drug prices in the US.

The other index heavyweight, Nestle, ended the session with a loss of 0.3 percent.

Galenica decreased 1.8 percent and Aryzta surrendered 2.0 percent. Fears of increasing restructuring costs weighed on shares of Aryzta, as well as additional concerns related to the decision by the U.K. to exit the European Union. Dufry and Lonza both weakened by 1.1 percent each.

Swatch dropped 1.7 percent, extending its losses from the previous day. Societe Generale had downgraded its rating on the stock to "Sell" yesterday. Meanwhile, rival Richemont slipped only 0.3 percent today.

Clariant was among the few gainers Thursday, with an increase of 0.4 percent. Syngenta also rose 0.3 percent. The stock exploded higher on Monday after U.S. agency CFIUS cleared the proposed acquisition of Syngenta by Chinese state-owned enterprises ChemChina.

Among the banks, Credit Suisse gained 0.3 percent, while UBS lost 0.3 percent.

In the broad market, Swisscom competitor Sunrise surged 9.0 percent after its second quarter results exceeded expectations.