The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back On Pharma Weakness & Greek Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's trading session in negative territory. The market was under pressure due to the weak performance of pharma giants Roche and Novartis. Investor sentiment was also impacted by the European Central Bank decision to no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for loans to its commercial banks.

The ECB move has put the new Greek government in a spot as it had hoped to renegotiate the terms of the bailout program with its international lenders. The ECB announcement is seen as a move to pressurize the new Greek government to adhere to its commitments with international creditors on the country's bailout program.

Switzerland's consumer sentiment increased unexpectedly in January, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Thursday. The overall consumer confidence rose to -6 from -11 in October. The score was expected to fall to -13.

The Swiss government's economic experts has said that the removal of the 1.20 cap on the CHF-EUR exchange rate last month and the subsequent sharp appreciation of the Swiss franc suggest that economic development must be weaker than previously forecast, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs or SECO revealed Thursday.

"The Expert Group does acknowledge that the removal of the 1.20 floor on the CHF-euro exchange rate on 15 January by the Swiss National Bank and the subsequent sharp appreciation in value of the Swiss franc against the Euro and other currencies means that one of the central assumptions on which the forecasts were based - a currency exchange rate situation remaining essentially unchanged - is no longer valid," the SECO said.

In December, the federal economic experts forecast 2.1 percent growth for this year and 2.4 percent expansion for 2016. They had also predicted a slight fall in unemployment.

The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.74 percent Thursday and finished at 8,544.32. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.29 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.59 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Thursday, which pressured the overall market. Roche declined by 1.4 percent and Novartis dropped by 1.6 percent. Shares of Nestle also fell by 0.6 percent.

Swatch Group ended a volatile session with an increase of 2.9 percent. The stock dropped as much as 7.4 percent in early trade, after its full year 2014 operating income fell short of expectations. However, the stock reversed after it announced that it plans to launch a new SmartWatch in the next two to three months. The stock was up by more than 4 percent at its intraday high.

ABB climbed by 1.6 percent. The company's fourth quarter net income climbed to $680 million from $525 million last year. Revenues fell to $10.346 billion from $11.373 billion a year ago. ABB's Board of Directors proposed an increase in the dividend to 0.72 francs per share.

Swisscom dipped by 0.3 percent. The company's 2014 sales surpassed expectations, but investors were disappointed by its conservative outlook.

Transocean advanced by 1.2 percent, as the price of oil attempts to rebound from yesterday's sharp decline. Syngenta climbed by 1.6 percent, extending its gains from the previous session. Clariant increased by 1.0 percent, Sonova gained 1.0 percent and Adecco added 0.9 percent.