The Swiss Stock Market Dropped Again Friday, Finished Negative For The Week

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a substantial decline, extending the losses from the previous trading day. The market got off to a weak start following the sharp pull back in the Chinese stock market and selling pressure remained throughout the morning. Some weaker than expected U.S. economic data drove the market even lower in the afternoon.

The market was a bit calmer this week, when compared to last week, but remains highly volatile. Concerns over the health of the Chinese economy and falling crude oil prices have been driving equities lower since the start of 2016. Investors are now wondering whether this is the beginning of a bear market.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 2.39 percent Friday and finished at 8,107.13. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 1.8 percent and is down 6.4 percent since the start of the year. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 2.56 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index fell 2.37 percent.

Syngenta bucked the overall trend of the trading day, with a gain of 1.8 percent. The increase was fueled by takeover speculation. Bloomberg reported that Syngenta's Board of Directors has voted in favor of pursuing advanced takeover talks with China National Chemical.

Offshore oil driller Transocean dropped 4.4 percent, after crude oil prices dropped below $30 a barrel.

Galenica sank 6.4 percent and LafargeHolcim weakened by 4.5 percent. ABB, SGS, Lonza, Swatch and Sonova all forfeited around 3 percent.

Financial stocks turned in a weak performance Friday. Julius Baer dropped 4.1 percent and UBS lost 3.9 percent, while Credit Suisse surrendered 2.7 percent.

Richemont decreased 2.4 percent. Some analysts have lowered their price target on the stock after yesterday's sales report and ZKB lowered its rating to "Underweight."

The index heavyweights all finished in the red. Novartis declined 2.7 percent after Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to "Underweight" from "Neutral." Roche dropped 2.3 percent and Nestle finished lower by 1.7 percent.

Schindler fell 2.0 percent after the company announced management changes. Alfred N. Schindler will step down as Chairman next year. CEO Silvio Napoli will succeed him as Chairman and Thomas Oetterli will become the new CEO.