The Swiss Stock Market Trimmed Gains After U.S. Jobs Report

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market was up significantly in early trade Friday, but those gains began to crumble after the release of the disappointing U.S. jobs report for September. The market recovered some ground in late trade, as the U.S. equity markets began to turn around, and finished with a slight increase.

Employment in the U.S. increased by much less than anticipated in September. The report said non-farm payroll employment rose by 142,000 jobs in September, well below economist estimates for an increase of about 203,000 jobs. The disappointing data has many investors thinking that an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve later this month is unlikely.

The Swiss Market Index climbed by 0.06 percent Friday and finished at 8,515.52. The intraday high was 8,624 points and the low was 8,420 points. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall increase of 0.1 percent. The Swiss Leader Index rose 0.19 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.09 percent.

Financial stocks turned in a solid performance at the end of the trading week. Julius Baer finished with a gain of 1.5 percent, but was up as much as 4 percent during the session. Credit Suisse climbed 0.8 percent and UBS added 0.9 percent.

Credit Suisse was granted an exemption from the U.S. Labor Department which allows it to continue manage U.S. pension funds. Julius Baer was up on speculation about a fine settlement with U.S. authorities.

Cyclical stocks were also among the gainers Friday. Geberit increased 1.3 percent and LafargeHolcim rose 1.1 percent. Schindler climbed 1.0 percent and Clariant added 0.9 percent.

Among the index heavyweight, Novartis rose nearly 0.1 percent and Nestle added 0.14 percent. However, Roche ended the session with a loss of 0.5 percent. Novartis announced that the U.S. FDA has accepted its application for its biosimilar copy of Amgen's Enbrel.