(RTTNews.com) – The Swiss stock market ended Thursday’s session in the red, extending its losing streak to five sessions. After a weak start, the market staged a minor recovery, before slipping back into the red. The weak opening on Wall Street drove the marker further to the downside.
Investors remain in a cautious mood due the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Traders had their first opportunity to react to yesterday’s Federal Reserve announcement. As expected, the Fed made no change to interest rates. The U.K. High Court ruled on Thursday that the government must seek Parliament approval before triggering the Article 50. Traders are also looking forward to the release of the U.S. employment report on Friday.
The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.77 percent Thursday and finished at 7,640.94. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.62 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.62.
The cyclical stocks were under pressure Thursday. Schindler dropped 1.3 percent and Aryzta lost 1.0 percent. Lonza weakened by 1.1 percent and Syngenta surrendered 0.8 percent.
Index heavyweight Roche forfeited 0.7 percent. The company released results from a Phase 3 study of haemophilia product candidate ACE910 which showed that four out of 118 patients suffered sever side effects. Novartis dropped 0.7 percent and Nestlé lost 1.0 percent.
LafargeHolcim finished lower by 0.3 percent ahead of its third quarter report Friday. However, Richemont gained 0.7 percent before its report on Friday.
Shares of Swisscom initially reacted negatively to its quarter report, but ended the day with a loss of only 0.04 percent. Earnings for the quarter rose more than expected, but sales stagnated.
The top performing stock of the session was Dufry, which jumped 6.8 percent. The company reported a significant increase in sales for the first 9 months of the year.
Reinsurer Swiss Re gained 0.8 percent after reporting a smaller-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit.
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Plantations International