BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session with a modest decrease. The market got off to a weak start after yesterday's pullback on Wall Street following the release of the minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting. The minutes indicated a continuation of monetary policy tightening.
However, the Swiss market pared its losses in the afternoon Thursday, after the positive open on Wall Street. A solid performance from shares of index heavyweight Nestlé also provided some support.
The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.24 percent Thursday and finished at 8,967.43. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.42 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.25 percent.
Swiss Re weakened by 1.4 percent ahead of its earnings report Friday. Sika, which will also report results Friday, dropped by 1.0 percent.
Aryzta and Swatch declined by 1.2 percent each. ABB decreased 0.9 percent and Logitech fell 0.9 percent.
Richemont surrendered 1.1 percent. The review period for the company's planned purchase of the online sales platform Yoox Net-A-Porter has been extended by market regulators in Italy.
Credit Suisse lost 0.3 percent, Julius Baer dropped 0.7 percent and UBS slid 0.2 percent.
Among the index heavyweights, Roche dipped 0.1 percent and Novartis fell 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, Nestlé climbed 0.8 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX