The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back On Concerns Over Greece & Spain

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market returned to action Tuesday, following yesterday's holiday and ended the session in negative territory. Continued concerns over the situation in Greece weighed on investor sentiment, as well as the results of the Spanish election. Mixed U.S. economic data and concerns over interest rates added to the list of concerns.

Statements from Greek government officials over the weekend unsettled investors. The Interior ministry stated that the country's loan repayment to the IMF would not take place. However, a government spokesman stated the opposite shortly afterwards.

In Spain, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Popular Party suffered its worst result in 20 years in a municipal election, as the voters punished his government for four years of austerity and a raft of corruption scandals before a general election due in November.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.86 percent Tuesday and finished at 9,272.68. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.87 and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.86 percent.

Clariant was the largest decliner at the start of the new trading week, with a loss of 2.6 percent. Swatch dropped by 1.9 percent and Richemont lost 2.1 percent, extending weakness from Friday. ZKB downgraded its ratings on both luxury goods companies to "Underweight" from "Overweight."

Financial stocks were under pressure Tuesday. Credit Suisse dropped by 2.3 percent and UBS dipped by 0.4 percent. Julius Baer also finished with a loss of 1.0 percent.

Among the index heavyweights, Novartis decreased by 1.1 percent, despite an upgrade from Bank Vontobel to "Buy" from "Reduce." Roche fell by 0.6 percent and Nestle lost 0.7 percent.