The Swiss Stock Market Pared Early Losses On Greek Optimism

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market was down significantly in early trade Friday, falling well below the 9,000 point level. The early weakness was fueled by uncertainty on Greece, after yesterday's Eurogroup meeting ended without an agreement.

However, the market staged a recovery in the afternoon and ended the session with a modest decrease. The market reversed on reports that Greece's creditors have proposed a five-month extension of its current bailout programme if the government agrees to a set of reforms. Investors are hopeful that a deal can be reached this weekend.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.42 percent Friday and finished at 9,007.50. The market hit an intraday low of 8,933 points. The SMI ended the overall trading week with a gain of 1.6, thanks to the strong performance at the beginning of the week. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.27 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.40 percent.

Novartis was one of the weakest performing stocks of the session, despite some positive product news. The stock dropped by 1.5 percent. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion for Farydak, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. Odomzo, for basal cell carcinoma, also received a positive recommendation.

Shares of Roche fell by 0.4 percent. The EMA committee recommended approval for an additional indication for Perjeta in breast cancer. Actelion also decreased by 0.5 percent. The company announced that it is partnering with the Max Planck Institute to develop a synthetic vaccine called Vaxxilon.

Sonova declined by 1.6 percent and Lonza weakened by 1.2 percent. Kuehne + Nagel and Swatch both dropped by 1.0 percent each. Barclays downgraded its rating on Swatch to "Equal-weight" from "Overweight."

Julius Baer was one of the best performing stocks of the day, with a gain of 1.0 percent. Transocean advanced by 0.7 percent and Adecco added 0.5 percent.

Santhera ended the session with a loss of 5.8 percent. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended approval of Raxone for the treatment of LHON. OC Oerlikon climbed by 2.6 percent, after Baader Helvea upgraded the stock to "Buy."