The Swiss Stock Market Dipped Friday But Finished The Week With A Gain

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a slight decline, but ended a rather strong week with an overall gain. The market briefly climbed into positive territory early Friday, before slipping into the red.

Weakness in the price of crude oil once again pulled the market lower. Crude oil has largely driven the direction of trading in global equity markets since the start of 2016. The recent rise in crude prices sparked this week's recovery. However, doubts that an agreement can be reached between Saudi Arabia and Iran on production cuts triggered today's weakness.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.67 percent Friday and finished at 7,863.36. The SMI hit an intraday low of 7,818 points. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.70 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.59 percent.

The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 2.7 percent. However, the market is still down about 11 percent since the start of 2016.

Shares of oil driller Transocean fell 3.6 percent Friday, as crude oil prices weakened. LafargeHolcim and Adecco both lost 1.4 percent each, while Aryzta surrendered 1.2 percent. Richemont weakened by 1.8 percent and Swatch fell 0.9 percent. Shares of the defensive Swisscom also decreased 2.3 percent.

Swiss Re declined 1.4 percent Friday. The company will present financial results next week. Zurich Insurance also dropped 0.9 percent. Disappointing results from German competitor Allianz weighed on the insurer.

Credit Suisse dropped 2.0 percent and UBS lost 0.6 percent. Shares of Julius Baer also fell 0.5 percent.

Nestle fell 0.7 percent Friday, adding to its losses from the previous session. Thursday's disappointing earnings report resulted in a loss of 3.7 percent.

Novartis slipped 0.5 percent, despite the news that the U.S. FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy status to leukemia drug Midostaurin. Shares of the third index heavyweight, Roche, also finished down by 0.2 percent.

Last year's high flyer Galenica increased 1.0 percent Friday. Sika gained 1.6 percent and Givaudan added 0.3 percent.

In the broad market, EFG rose 1.8 percent. The private bank confirmed media reports that it is in exclusive negotiations with the Brazilian BTG Pactual about a takeover of Ticino BSI.

Coltene advanced 3.6 percent, after the dental supplies manufacturer announced that it is entering the fast-growing CAD / CAM market.