Swiss Stock Market Extends Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stocks market closed lower again on Friday, stretching its losing streak to three sessions and sinking almost 190 points or 1.5 percent along the way.

The SMI opened sharply lower on Friday and saw peaks and valleys throughout the session but always remained solidly in negative territory.

The losses were in line with the rest of Europe as bourses in Germany and the UK wiped out most the gains in the previous session, while stocks in France ended lower for the third straight session.

The markets continue to struggle with concerns over interest rates following hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who indicated this week that interest rates are likely to rise this year.

On Friday, the SMI dropped 94.81 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 12,525.63 after trading between 12,506.58 and 12,596.43.

Among the actives, Sika plummeted 4.09 percent, while ABB tumbled 2.70 percent, Geberit tanked 2.46 percent, Compagnie Financiere Richemont declined 1.80 percent, Roche Holding climbed 0.79 percent, UBS Group sank 0.70 percent, Zurich Insurance dropped 0.43 percent, Credit Suisse and Swiss Re both slumped 0.35 percent, Swisscom added 0.31 percent, Swatch Group fell 0.24 percent, Novartis dipped 0.22 percent, Swiss Life eased 0.13 percent and Adecco Group rose 0.10 percent.