(RTTNews.com) – The Swiss stock market ended the last day of the trading week with a significant decrease. Investors took advantage of the opportunity to lock in some profits, after Thursday’s strong gains. Thursday’s rally was in response to the Federal Reserve decision to keep interest rates at current levels.
There was little news to drive the direction of trading Friday. The Eurozone private sector report had little impact on the Swiss market. There was no help to be found from the opening on Wall Street, as U.S. markets struggled in early trade. Investors continue to keep an eye on crude oil prices ahead of next week’s OPEC meeting.
The Swiss Market Index decreased 0.42 percent Friday and finished at 8,272.89. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 1.8 percent. The Swiss Leader Index fell 0.16 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index dropped 0.36 percent.
Syngenta and Swiss Re both increased by 0.9 percent each.
Index heavyweight Nestle dropped 1.7 percent. There was no news to account for the drop, leaving profit taking as the likely explanation. Novartis dipped 0.1 percent, but Roche rose 0.2 percent.
Credit Suisse slipped 0.1 percent and UBS fell 0.3 percent. Swiss Life forfeited 0.6 percent.
In the broad market, Sunrise climbed 0.6 percent after it received an “Outperform” rating from RBC.
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Plantations International