The Swiss Stock Market Finished To The Downside Friday

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session solidly in negative territory. The market ended the trading week with a loss, for the second week in a row. The index heavyweights and financial stocks weighed on the market Friday.

Investors have turned cautious due to uncertainty. The economic slowdown in China remains a source of concern, as does the direction of U.S. monetary policy. The FOMC will be holding its next meeting on Wednesday and investors will be watching for any clues regarding stimulus tapering.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.87 percent Friday and finished at 7,796.84. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 1.7 percent. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.73 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.79 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red at the end of the trading week. Novartis dropped by 1.2 percent and Roche fell by 0.7 percent. Shares of Nestle also declined by 1.1 percent.

Insurance stocks turned in a weak performance Friday. Zurich Insurance and Baloise both fell by 1.7 percent, while Swiss Re lost 1.6 percent. UBS decreased by 0.5 percent and Julius Baer lost 0.1 percent. However, Credit Suisse finished with a gain of 0.1 percent.