Swiss Market Ends On Weak Note; Credit Suisse Tumbles 8%

(RTTNews) - Despite opening on a positive note, the Switzerland stock market ended notably lower on Friday as worries about a potential banking crisis continued to hurt sentiment, prompting investors to lighten commitments.

The benchmark SMI ended with a loss of 105.55 points or 0.98% at 10,613.55. The index, which advanced to 10,794.33 at the start, dropped to a low of 10,566.90 before staging a modest recovery.

Credit Suisse, which rallied sharply on Thursday, rebounding after suffering a severe setback a session earlier, turned weak again today and ended with a big loss of 8%. According to a report in Reuters, at least four major banks, including Societe Generale SA and Deutsche Bank AG , have put restrictions on their trades involving Credit Suisse Group AG or its securities.

Swiss Life Holding ended 3.4% down, Partners Group drifted down 3%, Swiss Re lost nearly 2.5%, and Richemont shed 2.27%.

Zurich Insurance Group, Alcon, Holcim, Givaudan, ABB, UBS Group and Geberit lost 1.1 to 1.7%.

Only Sonova (up 0.57%) and Roche Holding (up 0.17%), were the gainers in the SMI index.

In the Swiss Mid Price Index, Zur Rose ended 5.28% down. Swatch Group ended lower by 4.23%, while Julius Baer and Temenos Group both lost about 3.1%.

Flughafen Zurich, Adecco, Helvetia, Baloise Holding, Georg Fischer, Bachem Holding and Swiss Prime Site lost 1 to 2.5%.

AMS rallied nearly 4%. SIG Combibloc and VAT Group gained 1.33% and 1.29%, respectively.