The Swiss Stock Market Began The Week With A Sharp Drop

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a substantial decline. The market fluctuated in early trade, but was largely positive in the morning. However, the market slipped into the red in the afternoon and sank further going into the close.

The trading session was highly volatile, which was largely attributed to nervousness ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to announce an interest rate hike when it wraps up its two day policy meeting.

The Swiss Market Index declined 1.49 percent Monday and finished at 8,375.31. The SMI has been on a losing streak for the past 3 weeks. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 1.36 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 1.31 percent.

The weakest performing stock of the session was Transocean, with a loss of 5.1 percent. The offshore oil driller was under pressure due to the further decline in crude oil prices.

Julius Baer fell 3.4 percent. Investors remain concerned about the company's unresolved U.S. tax dispute. UBS also weakened by 1.8 percent and Credit Suisse surrendered 1.5 percent.

Syngenta decreased 2.8 percent. The stock ran up during the previous week as reports of merger talks between DuPont and Dow Chemical sparked speculation that Syngenta may also attract a suitor. The DuPont and Dow Chemical merger was completed at the end of the week and there has been no developments in regard to Syngenta.

The index heavyweights all finished solidly in the red Monday. Novartis declined 1.6 percent and Roche lost 1.5 percent. Shares of Nestle also finished lower by 1.3 percent.

One of the few positive performers was Givaudan, with an increase of 0.7 percent.

In the broad market, VZ Holding declined 2.5 percent after UBS rated the stock a "Sell."