The Swiss Stock Market Dropped - Geberit And Schindler In Focus

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market finished solidly in negative territory Tuesday, along with the rest of the European markets. Some of the losses were attributed to profit taking, following the gains of the previous session. A solution to the situation in Greece begins to appear more likely.

The Greek government rearranged its negotiating team yesterday and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stated today that he expects to reach a deal with international creditors by May 9.

Investors were also cautious ahead of Wednesday's announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve. An unexpected drop in U.S. consumer sentiment also weighed on investor sentiment in the afternoon.

The Swiss Market Index dropped by 0.96 percent Tuesday and finished at 9,259.81. The Swiss Leader Index declined by 0.99 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.91 percent.

Geberit was one of the weakest performing stocks of the session, sinking by 5.8 percent. The company's quarterly profit came in just shy of expectations, while revenues were a clear miss.

Shares of Schindler dropped by 1.8 percent after it reported quarterly results. The lift and escalator manufacturer's new orders were especially disappointing.

Lonza was among the few positives of the session. The stock increased by 0.9 percent after the Life Science Group reported solid results for the first quarter. Adecco climbed by 0.4 percent, after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the stock to "Buy."

The index heavyweights all finished in negative territory Tuesday, which pressured the overall market. Roche dropped by 2.0 percent and Novartis lost 0.9 percent. Shares of their peer Actelion also declined by 1.3 percent. Nestle also finished with a loss of 0.4 percent.

Financial stocks also turned in a weak performance. Credit Suisse declined by 1.3 percent and UBS fell by 1.1 percent. Swiss Re dropped by 1.2 percent and Baloise lost 1.4 percent. Zurich Insurance surrendered 1.2 percent and Swiss Life decreased by 0.7 percent.