The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back On Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first day of the new trading week in the red, following the gains of the previous week. The pull back was attributed to profit taking, after the market climbed to a new high for the year last week.

An unexpected drop in Chinese exports had a negative impact on investor sentiment Monday. Investors also played it cautious ahead of a large number of U.S. corporate earnings reports this week. A number of large U.S. banks will be reporting quarterly results in the next few days.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.44 percent Monday and finished at 9,430.25. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.34 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.37 percent.

Shares of Julius Baer dropped by 1.5 percent Monday. The stock surged by 7.4 percent during the previous week and rallied to a new all-time high. The move was driven by rumors that Credit Suisse was interested in acquiring the company. However, those rumors were rejected by company management over the weekend. Credit Suisse fell by 0.3 percent and UBS lost 0.4 percent.

Insurance stocks were under pressure today. Zurich Insurance fell by 1.0 percent and Baloise lost 0.9 percent. Swiss Re dipped by 0.3 percent and Swiss Life closed unchanged. Aryzta was also among the decliners, falling by 1.8 percent, after a price target of reduction by Berenberg Bank. The traditionally volatile Transocean also dropped by 2.4 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in negative territory. Novartis dropped by 0.8 percent and Roche dipped by 0.1 percent. Nestle also finished lower by 0.5 percent.

Givaudan decreased by 0.6 percent, after Credit Suisse lowered its rating on the stock. Lonza dipped by 0.3 percent, Clariant lost 0.2 percent and Syngenta finished down by 0.6 percent.