The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back On Novartis Weakness

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session solidly in negative territory. The weak performance of index heavyweight Novartis weighed on the overall market. Shares of Geberit were also under pressure after reporting results.

Investors were also cautious ahead of the announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates, but traders will be paying close attention to any signals regarding a rate hike in December. U.S. consumer confidence and durable goods orders both came in weaker than anticipated today.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.65 percent Tuesday and finished at 8,849.92. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.69 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.69 percent.

Index heavyweight Novartis dropped 1.6 percent Tuesday. The pharmaceutical giant reported third-quarter net income that missed analysts' estimates. The rest of the pharmaceutical companies fared better on the day. Roche decreased 0.4 percent and Actelion rose 1.1 percent.

Geberit sank 4.8 percent, after its earnings per share dropped to 9.06 francs for the nine-month of 2015 from 11.01 francs in the previous year. The results came in below expectations.

Transocean weakened by 4.0 percent, amidst falling crude oil prices. According to the latest report, the offshore oil driller has received new orders of just USD $28 million last month.

Actelion was a notable gainer, with an increase of 1.1 percent. Among the financials, Julius Baer rose 1.0 percent and Swiss Re added 0.4 percent.

Shares of AMS plunged 15.5 percent. The company reported better than expected quarterly figures after the bell Monday, but issues disappointing guidance.