The Swiss Stock Market Finished Nearly Unchanged Again Friday

(RTTNews) - For the second day in a row, the Swiss stock market closed virtually unchanged for the session. The market was negative for the majority of Friday's session, but recovered ground in late trade.

China's central bank announced removal of all controls on lending rates of banks. The central bank claimed that the latest move will help to reduce the financing costs of companies and improve independent pricing and better allocation of financial resources.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.01 percent Friday and finished at 7,928.12. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 0.7 percent. The Swiss Leader Index dropped by 0.10 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.04 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished to the downside Friday. Roche declined by 0.3 percent, due to concerns that the company is interested in an acquisition of U.S. company Alexion. Novartis fell by 0.2 percent and Nestle decreased by 0.2 percent.

Actelion was among the weakest stocks at the end of the trading week, with a loss of 1.2 percent. The drop was attributed to profit taking, following yesterday's rise of 1.8 percent. Swisscom also dipped by 0.3 percent, after the Competition Commission has initiated a new investigation.