The Swiss Stock Market Pulled Back Monday, With Weakness In Financial Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Monday's session in negative territory. The market got off to a positive start, thanks to the increase in Chinese non-manufacturing data, but quickly turned lower and remained in the red for the majority of the session.

The weak performance of financial stocks weighed on the market at the start of the new trading week. Investors were also concerned by statements made by a Federal Reserve member, calling for the rapid reduction of U.S. monetary policy.

The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.44 percent Monday and finished at 8,185.69. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.34 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.36 percent.

Credit Suisse sank by 6.7 percent Monday, while UBS dropped by 5.3 percent. Newspaper reports on Sunday hinted at more stringent capital requirements. Julius Baer also dipped by 0.1 percent.

The index heavyweights turned in a mixed performance Monday. Shares of Novartis fell by 0.3 percent, but Roche gained 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, Nestle ended the session higher by 0.2 percent.

Nobel Biocare dropped by 4.0 percent, after Berenberg downgraded the stock to "Hold" from "Buy." National Insurance surged by 7.3 percent, due to takeover rumors. Addex rose by 2.8 percent after it announced a collaboration with NIDA on ADX71441 and ADX88178.