The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back With Weakness In Heavyweights

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session in the red. Many components of the SMI finished in the green, but the weak performance of the index heavyweights pressured the overall market.

Trading volume was relatively low during the session. Following a brief climb into the green, the market quickly dropped into negative territory and remained there for the rest of the session. Investors were cautious ahead of the European Central Bank meeting. The ECB is expected to make an announcement upon the meeting's conclusion on Thursday.

The Swiss Market Index dropped 0.64 percent Tuesday and finished at 8,650.02. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.25 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.50 percent.

The pharma heavyweights turned in a particularly weak performance Tuesday. Novartis sank 1.7 percent and Roche tumbled 1.3 percent. There was no news to drive the stocks lower, but pharmaceutical stocks were generally weak across the globe today. Nestle also finished down by 0.1 percent.

Givaudan weakened by 3.0 percent, after Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to "Underweight."

The luxury goods companies were also under pressure, due to the most recent watch export figures. Watch exports fell significantly in September and exports to Asia continued to decline.

Actelion was the top performer of the session, with a gain of 3.7 percent. The biopharmaceutical company reported an increase in sales for the first 9 months of the year and raised its full year forecast.

The financial stocks were mixed Tuesday. UBS decreased 1.1 percent, while Credit Suisse rose 1.1 percent. Credit Suisse is due to report financial results on Wednesday.

ABB gained 1.1 percent ahead of its report on Wednesday. Galenica increased 1.5 percent and Syngenta added 1.2 percent.

Panalpina sank 6.1 percent, after its third quarter results missed expectations.