BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session nearly unchanged. After a positive start, the market quickly pared its early gains and spent much of the day in negative territory. The weak performance of index heavyweight Novartis pressured the overall market.
Investors remained focused on corporate earnings Thursday, after a large number of reports hit both in Europe and in the United States. Investors are also keeping a close eye on the spring meetings of both the IMF and the World Bank, which kicked off today in Washington.
The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.01 percent Thursday and finished at 8,833.18. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.24 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.03 percent.
Novartis dropped 1.9 percent after a sharp slump in sales by its U.S. generics unit. Roche also finished lower by 0.02 percent.
Nutrition, health and wellness giant Nestle rose 0.2 percent after confirming its 2018 guidance.
Engineering firm ABB jumped 4.6 percent after its Q1 profit topped forecasts.
Lonza was another notable gainer, with an increase of 1.8 percent. Lafargeholcim also closed up by 1.2 percent.
UBS advanced 1.1 percent and Credit Suisse added 0.7 percent. Julius Baer also finished higher by 0.8 percent. Swiss Re gained 0.9 percent and Swiss Life climbed 0.8 percent.
Sika was a notable decliner Wednesday, with a loss of 1.7 percent. Richemont forfeited 1 percent and rival Swatch slid 0.3 percent.
In the broad market, Sulzer climbed 2.9 percent after confirmed its outlook for the full year 2018.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX