The Swiss stock market closed to the downside Friday and finished the week with a loss. Financial stocks, especially those of the big banks weighed on the market. Concerns over the situation in Spain weighed on European banks. Bank of Spain data showed Friday that Spanish banks' net borrowing from ECB climbed to EUR 227.6 billion in March from EUR 152.4 billion in February.
The weaker than expected Chinese GDP result led investors to exit stocks. The Chinese economy expanded at the weakest pace in nearly three years in the first quarter of 2012. The gross domestic product expanded 8.1 percent year-on-year. Economists expected a slowdown in growth to 8.4 percent.
The Swiss Market Index fell by 0.87 percent Friday and closed at 6,072.12. The Swiss Leader Index dropped by 1.24 percent and the Swiss Performance Index finished down by 0.81 percent.
Shares of UBS declined by 2.37 percent and Julius Baer dropped by 3.24 percent. Swiss Re closed lower by 0.55 percent and Swiss Life lost 2.55 percent. Baloise finished down by 1.48 percent.
Among the index heavyweights, Nestle closed down by 0.36 percent. Roche gained 0.19 percent and Novartis fell by 0.30 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.