The Swiss Stock Market Finished Below 8,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session in the red, although it spent much of the session in positive territory. Weakness in late trade, which coincided with the pull back on Wall Street, drove the market below the 8,000 point level.

Employment in the U.S. rose by less than expected in January, although the unemployment rate still edged lower. Non-farm payroll employment climbed by 151,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 188,000 jobs. Even though the job growth came in below estimate, the unemployment rate still edged down to 4.9 percent in January from 5.0 percent in December. Economists had expected the rate to come in unchanged.

The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.54 percent Friday and finished at 7,960.13. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.33 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.52 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Friday, which weighed on the overall market. Nestlé dropped 1.4 percent. Novartis weakened by 0.8 percent and Roche lost 0.5 percent.

Galenica, which was the best performing stock of 2015, was the weakest performer Friday, with a loss of 4.8 percent. Lonza decreased 2.7 percent and Swiss Re fell 2.1 percent. Swiss Life surrendered 2.0 percent and Sika lost 1.6 percent. Swisscom finished lower by 1.1 percent, after its annual report yesterday.

Transocean surged 8.0 percent Friday, thanks to the recent recovery in crude oil prices. Swatch was another notable gainer, with an increase or 4.3 percent. SGS increased 1.6 percent and LafargeHolcim rose 1.1 percent.

Credit Suisse climbed 1.5 percent, after sinking by 11 percent yesterday. The bank's fourth quarter results came in weaker than expected. JP Morgan downgraded its rating on the stock Friday to "Equal weight" from "Overweight." Shares of UBS gained 0.9 percent and Julius Baer added 0.5 percent.