The Swiss Stock Market Dipped, But Held 8,000 Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a modest pull back, following the strong gains of recent days. The dip was attributed to profit taking. Despite the decrease, the market held above the 8,000 point level.

Investors are looking forward to the meeting of major oil producing nations in Doha on Sunday. The outcome of the meeting is expected to determine the direction for oil prices. Investors have become more uncertain on the outcome of the meeting as it draws nearer. An agreement on a production freeze could be in danger of falling apart.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.08 percent Friday and finished at 8,014.60. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 2.5 percent. The Swiss Leader Index declined 0.18 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index fell 0.13 percent.

Credit Suisse ended the day with a loss of 0.8 percent. The company is facing punishment by supervisory authorities in Japan on allegations that it leaked information to clients without passing through internal controls.

Julius Baer dropped 4.0 percent as it began trading on an ex-dividend basis. UBS also finished lower by 0.1 percent.

Among the insurance stocks, Swiss Life and Baloise both dropped 0.8 percent, while Swiss Re lost 0.5 percent. Baader Helvea confirmed its "Hold" rating on Swiss Re.

Dufry weakened by 1.4 percent and Clariant surrendered 3.1 percent. JPMorgan downgraded its rating on shares of Clariant to "Underweight" from "Overweight."

Among the index heavyweights, Nestle finished with a gain of 0.1 percent, while Novartis fell 0.2 percent. Shares of Roche ended the session unchanged.

In the broad market, Dottikon ES surged 7.2 percent. The specialty chemicals company had a revenue increase of 25% for the fiscal year.

EFG International dropped 3.5 percent after it was downgraded by Goldman Sachs.