The Swiss Stock Market Dropped On Global Economic Concerns

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a substantial decline. The market fluctuated between 8,460 and 8,540 points in the morning, but sank below 8,400 points in the afternoon. The weak opening of the U.S. equity markets was largely responsible for the late weakness in the Swiss market.

Weak economic data weighed on investor sentiment Monday. China's industrial profits declined in August as product prices continued to decrease. Concerns over China sparked further weakness in commodity prices. Meanwhile, U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected, but pending home sales unexpectedly declined in August.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 1.47 percent Monday and finished at 8,381.22. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 1.64 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 1.42 percent.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced positive results from pivotal study of investigational immunotherapy atezolizumab in specific type of advanced bladder cancer at 2015 European Cancer Congress. Kepler Cheuvreux increased its rating on Roche to "Buy" from "Hold." Roche ended the day with a gain of 0.5 percent.

Novartis finished with a loss of 2.8 percent, but Nestle closed higher by 0.7 percent.

Transocean decreased 4.2 percent, as crude oil prices weakened. LafageHolcim dropped 3.7 percent and Actelion lost 3.3 percent.

The banking stocks all turned in a weak performance, along with the rest of the European banks. Credit Suisse declined 3.9 percent, Julius Baer surrendered 2.5 percent and UBS fell 2.0 percent.

Swisscom finished down by 1.1 percent. Safra Sarasin increased its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral."

Aryzta fell 1.6 percent, after the baked goods group reported full year results.

Leonteq sank 12 percent after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to "Neutral." AMS surrendered 4.9 percent after its target price was cut by Barclays.