The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back As Fed Rate Hike Looks Likely

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session in the red. Investor concerns over a potential interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve next month drove the market lower, following the release of the minutes of the most recent Fed meeting after the European close yesterday.

Most participants determined it would likely be appropriate to raise rates in June if incoming data is consistent with economic growth picking up in the second quarter, labor market conditions continuing to strengthen, and inflation making progress toward the 2 percent objective.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.82 percent Thursday and finished at 7,908.79. The Swiss Leader Index declined 0.60 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.61 percent.

Credit Suisse was among the biggest losers of the session. The stock dropped 2.9 percent as it began trading on an ex-dividend basis. UBS ended the session higher by 1.1 percent.

Julius Baer added 0.30 percent. The company released interim results for the first 4 months of the year. Gross margin was slightly above expectations. However, investors were disappointed by a smaller than expected influx of new money.

Sika increased 0.5 percent and Lonza gained 0.4 percent. Sonova and Dufry both rose 0.3 percent each.

Aryzta dropped 2.2 percent, while Galenica weakened by 2.1 percent. Swisscom and Givaudan both decreased by 1.8 percent each.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Thursday. Roche fell 1.3 percent, while Novartis and Nestlé both 0.8 percent each. The U.S. FDA approved Roche's Tecentriq for advanced bladder cancer.