The Swiss Stock Market Dropped On Fed Uncertainty

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a substantial decrease. The market got off to a positive start Monday, but early gains quickly began to erode and it sank into the red in the second half of the session. Weakness in the index heavyweights weighed on the markets, as well as the negative performance of the U.S. equity markets.

Investors were cautious at the start of the week, due to uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement on Thursday. Analysts remain split regarding whether the central bank will raise interest rates. Industrial production data from the Eurozone came in strong Monday, but Chinese industrial production increased at a slower-than-expected pace in August.

The Swiss Market Index dropped by 0.98 percent Monday and finished at 8,686.17. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.98 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.91 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished to the downside Monday, which pressured the overall market. Novartis declined by 1.4 percent and Roche tumbled by 1.1 percent. Nestlé also finished with a loss of 0.4 percent.

Financial stocks also struggled at the start of the new trading week. UBS values decreased by 1.9 percent and Credit Suisse surrendered 1.6 percent. Julius Baer also fell by 0.6 percent.

Tidjane Thiam, the CEO of Credit Suisse, stated that he is planning a radical transformation of the second-largest Swiss bank. The company plans to sell its U.S. private bank.

Swiss Re dipped by 0.2 percent. The company announced that it expects price levels to stabilize across many lines of business.

Sonova was one of the largest decliners Monday, falling by 2.0 percent. Givaudan weakened by 1.7 percent and Lonza dropped by 1.6 percent. Adecco forfeited 1.4 percent, while SGS and LafargeHolcim gave back about 1 percent each.