The Swiss Stock Market Sank Sharply Monday

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a significant loss. The market was briefly positive at the start of Monday's session, but quickly dropped into negative territory. The weak opening on Wall Street applied additional pressure on the Swiss market going into the close.

Investor sentiment was negatively impacted by the drop in crude oil prices, which fell below $30 a barrel Monday. Eurozone investor sentiment weakened for the second straight month to the lowest since early 2015. There was no U.S. economic data today.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 2.52 percent Monday and finished at 7,759.21. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 3.04 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 2.61 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Monday, which pressured the overall market. Novartis sank 2.9 percent and Roche fell 2.8 percent. Shares of Nestle also finished lower by 0.7 percent.

Banks across Europe were under intense pressure today. Credit Suisse tumbled 5 percent and UBS sank 4.3 percent. Julius Baer also ended the session with a loss of 4.2 percent.

Transocean was the weakest performing stock of the session, with a decrease of nearly 10 percent. The pull back in crude oil prices hit the driller hard.

Givaudan decreased 2.2 percent, after Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the stock to "Neutral" and removed it from its "Pan-Europe Buy List."

LafargeHolcim dropped nearly 8 percent. The company announced that Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle is leaving his position and is returning to Linde.