The Swiss stock market got off to a weak start Thursday, due to the sharp decline in Japan and the rest of the Asian markets. Another factor that contributed to the early weakness was the lowered growth forecast from The World Bank for the global economy.
However, the market trimmed its early losses in the afternoon after the release of some positive economic data from the U.S. The better than expected retail sales data and the larger than expected decrease in jobless claims provided a boost to investor sentiment.
The Swiss Market Index declined by 0.38 percent Thursday and finished at 7,627.53. The Swiss Leader Index fell by 0.31 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.37 percent.
Cyclicals turned in a weak performance Thursday. Lonza was one of the largest decliners, with a loss of 2.7 percent. Swatch declined by 1.7 percent and Richemont fell by 0.9 percent. Sulzer and Sonova both lost 1.0 percent and Holcim dropped by 0.9 percent.
The index heavyweights also finished the session with modest declines. Roche decreased by 0.7 percent and Novartis fell by 0.3 percent. Nestle also closed lower by 0.6 percent.
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