The Swiss Stock Market Extended Its Losses

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session in the red, extending its weakness from the previous session. The market pulled back in early trade, before settling into a sideways trend. However, the market pared its losses in the afternoon, following today's speech by U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.

May stated that the U.K. is set for a 'hard Brexit', which implies a complete separation from the European Union. She went on to say that her country will not remain a member of the single market.

The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.70 percent Tuesday and finished at 8,304.10. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.59 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.58 percent.

Shares of Geberit were in focus Tuesday. The stock jumped 2.3 percent after the company posted strong fourth quarter results.

Also among the gainers, Dufry climbed 1.2 percent and Aryzta added 0.8 percent.

SGS was among the top losers of the session, falling by 2.3 percent. Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock to "Neutral" from "Outperform."

Schindler weakened by 1.5 percent and Swatch dropped 1.2 percent.

The big banks were also under pressure Tuesday. Credit Suisse declined 1.1 percent and UBS surrendered 0.8 percent. The pullback came despite comments from Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who revealed to Bloomberg that "2017 will be better than 2016."

The biggest drag on the market was the weak performance of the index heavyweights. Nestlé and Novartis both dropped 1.0 percent each, while Roche slipped 0.4 percent. Shares of Givaudan also forfeited 0.6 percent.

In the broad market, Lindt & Sprüngli surged 7.0 percent after the chocolate producer achieved stronger than expected organic growth.

Cicor also leaped 11 percent after it reported a significant increase in orders.