The Swiss Stock Market Dropped On U.S. Employment Data

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session solidly to the downside. The market was down in early trade, ahead of the release of the U.S. employment report. It declined further after U.S. employment growth in August proved disappointing.

U.S. non-farm payroll employment climbed by 173,000 jobs in August, which was well below the increase of 220,000 jobs anticipated by economists. However, the unemployment rate still fell to a new seven-year low. The Federal Reserve had largely been expected to begin raising interest rates at its September meeting, but investors are now uncertain if that will be the case.

The Swiss Market Index dropped by 1.40 percent Friday and finished at 8,652.35. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 1.5 percent, its third down week in a row. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 1.70 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index lost 1.32 percent.

Cyclical stocks turned in a weak performance Friday. LafargeHolcim sank by 4.9 percent and ABB surrendered 2.7 percent. Geberit decreased by 2.3 percent and Adecco weakened by 2.0 percent.

Transocean tumbled by 4.2 percent, after Lars Sjöbring resigned as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Richemont fell by 2.9 percent after Goldman Sachs removed the stock from its "Conviction Buy" list. Swatch finished with a loss of 1.5 percent.

Financial stocks were also under pressure at the end of the week. Julius Baer dropped by 2.9 percent, Credit Suisse surrendered 2.4 percent and UBS lost 2.1 percent. Swiss Life declined by 2.2 percent and Baloise weakened by 1.8 percent. Zurich Insurance decreased by 1.6 percent and Swiss Re lost 1.3 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished to the downside Friday. Nestle closed lower by 0.8 percent. Novartis declined by 1.00 percent and Roche fell by 0.9 percent. Novartis received EU approval for Farydak capsules, used to treat adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, said that it plans to initiate a phase III trial of ACE910 in patients with Hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors by the end of 2015.