Swiss Market Snaps 4-day Winning Streak, Ends Notably Lower

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market ended down on Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as investors chose to take some profits.

Activity was stock specific with earnings results setting the trend.

The benchmark SMI ended down 73.12 points, or 0.73%, at 9,937.03. The index, which advanced to 10,042.05 in early trades, touched a low of 9,920.06 in the session.

On Thursday, the SMI ended with a gain of 68.14 points, or 0.69%, at 10,010.15, after having added more than 1.8% in the previous three sessions.

Roche Holding shares declined 2.4%. Givaudan shed about 1.7% and Alcon ended 1.4% down, while Credit Suisse and Nestle closed lower by 1 to 1.2%.

SGS ended down 1.2% after the company said it plans to trim its workforce by 2,000 across about 120 countries in a process of natural attrition, company spokesman Daniel Rufenacht said on Thursday.

UBS Group, Richemont, Swiss Life Holdings and Swisscom ended lower by 0.3 to 0.8%.

Novartis ended modestly higher. The drugmaker said its older Gilenya medicine against multiple sclerosis has bagged approval from Chinese regulatory body.

In the midcap space, BB Biotech shed 1.6% after the company said it posted a net loss of 336 million francs in the second quarter, compared to net loss of 98 million in the year-ago period.

On the other hand, Georg Fisher, Vifor Pharma and VAT Group gained 3 to 3.5%. AMS surged up 1.75%, while Schindler and OC Oerlikon Corp gained 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively.

Valora Holding gained 5.5% after the company said its first-half of net profit rose to 27.4 million francs, from 18.8 million francs in the year-ago period, helped by higher food sales and strong momentum in its pretzel business.