The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back Slightly After Yesterday's Climb

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session with a slight decrease, following yesterday's climb. The market got off to a positive start, but early gains slowly eroded later in the morning. The weaker than expected U.S. housing starts report applied further pressure in the afternoon.

Investors also decided to exercise caution ahead of the 2-day Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting, which begins today. The Fed is predicted to remove the word "patient" from its monetary policy statement without any strong signal on the timing of an interest rate rise.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.42 percent Tuesday and finished at 9,198.51. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.39 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.43 percent.

Holcim dropped by 2.0 percent Tuesday. The stock extended its losses from the previous session, after the company's Board pushed for a renegotiation to its merger agreement with Lafarge.

Cyclicals were also under pressure Tuesday. Lonza dropped by 1.2 percent and Clariant fell by 1.0 percent. Swatch decreased by 1.1 percent and Richemont lost 0.8 percent.

UBS dropped by 1.1 percent Tuesday, while Credit Suisse surrendered 1.0 percent. However, Julius Baer ended the session with a gain of 0.7 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in negative territory, which pressured the overall market. Novartis fell by 0.7 percent and Roche dipped by 0.2 percent. Nestle also closed lower by 0.3 percent.