The Swiss stock market ended Friday's trading session with a slight gain, but finished negative for the week. The weak performance of the index heavyweights had a negative impact on the overall market Friday.
A report in The Wall Street Journal stated that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will act soon to quell investor fear on stimulus tapering. The Federal Open Market Committee will hold its 2-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.11 percent Friday and finished at 7,635.96. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall declined of 1.9 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed by 0.31 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.14 percent.
Roche was the largest decliner among the index heavyweights, with a drop of 0.6 percent. Novartis fell by 0.1 percent and Nestle ended the session unchanged.
Financial stocks turned in a positive performance Friday. UBS increased by 1.2 percent, while Credit Suisse rose by 0.1 percent. Julius Baer finished with a gain of 1.0 percent. Among the insurers, Swiss Re climbed by 1.3 percent and Swiss Life added 0.6 percent.
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