BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a small loss. After a relatively calm opening, the market advanced to a high of around 8,700 points driven by gains in the pharmaceutical heavyweights. However, profit taking set in around midday, lead by the weak performance of the financial stocks.
Investors have a number of big events to look forward to this week, including a meeting between the Chinese President and U.S. President Trump. The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from its March meeting on Wednesday and the U.S. jobs report is slated for Friday.
The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.29 percent Monday and finished at 8,633.86. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.43 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.23 percent.
Credit Suisse dropped 2.0 percent and UBS surrendered 1.4 percent. Investors remain uncertain with regards to Credit Suisse after raids on its offices in several countries were reported at the end of last week due to allegations of tax evasion. Julius Baer also finished lower by 1.0 percent and Zurich Insurance Group declined 1.9 percent.
Givaudan decreased 0.7 percent and Lonza weakened by 0.8 percent. Among the cyclicals, ABB fell 0.6 percent and Kuehne + Nagel forfeited 0.7 percent.
Index heavyweight Roche gained 0.2 percent Monday, while Novartis finished unchanged. Novartis received EU approval for its drug Tafinlar in combination with Mekinist for treating lung cancer.
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