The Swiss Stock Market Finished With A Slight Loss Monday

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Monday's session with a very small loss. The market was range-bound throughout the session, continuing to fluctuate between positive and negative, with no clear trend.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a decisive victory in parliament's upper house, which provided an early boost in Europe. The weaker than expected U.S. existing home sales report in the afternoon had little impact on the Swiss market.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.01 percent on Monday and finished at 7,927.45. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.23 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.03 percent.

Financial stocks were in focus, due to the earnings reported by Julius Baer. Julius Baer surged by 5.7 percent, after its results for the first half of the year exceeded expectations. UBS also climbed by 2.5 percent, after it reached an agreement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding US residential mortgage-backed securities between 2004 and 2007. Credit Suisse also gained 1.7 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in negative territory at the start of the new trading week. Roche declined by 0.6 percent and Novartis fell by 0.4 percent. Nestle also decreased by 0.4 percent.