The Swiss Stock Market Dipped With Weakness In Financial Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a slight decrease. Renewed concerns over China and falling crude oil prices caused the market to give up early gains. Bank and insurance stocks were among the weakest performers Monday.

The official Chinese manufacturing PMI fell to 49.4 in January from 49.7 in December. This was the sixth straight month of contraction. Meanwhile, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the fourth straight month in January. The ISM said its purchasing managers index inched up to 48.2 in January from a downwardly revised 48.0 in December, but a reading below 50 continues to indicate a contraction in manufacturing activity.

The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.11 percent Monday and finished at 8,310.99. The SMI hit an intraday low of 8,246 points. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.28 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.07 percent.

Julius Baer was among the biggest losers of the session, with a decline of 2.7 percent. The company reported results for the full year that came in below expectations. The bank's 2015 profit fell by nearly two thirds largely due to penalties associated with a U.S. tax dispute.

Credit Suisse dropped 2.6 percent and UBS fell 0.9 percent. Credit Suisse has reached an agreement to settle a dispute with U.S. authorities following an investigation into the banks' "dark pools" private trading exchanges.

Among the insurance stocks, Zurich Insurance decreased 0.6 percent. Swiss Re weakened by 0.7 percent and Baloise dipped 0.2 percent.

Transocean sank 3.8 percent, due to the drop in crude oil prices Monday. LafargeHolcim surrendered 1.8 percent, due to speculation over the weekend regarding an early retirement for Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle. SGS dropped 1.3 percent, Adecco fell 1.0 percent and Clariant lost 0.5 percent.

Among the index heavyweights, Nestle climbed 0.5 percent and Roche gained 0.2 percent. Shares of Novartis finished the day unchanged.