"People have been reassessing where there's value in the market"
- Frances Hudson, global thematic strategist at Standard Life Investments
Swiss stocks turned lower on Friday, as European Union leaders failed to discuss further aid for Spain and the latest round of earnings on both sides of the Atlantic pointed at the global slowdown, as it was initially expected.
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI, a measure of the largest and most actively traded companies, fell 0.34 per cent to 6,763.60. The broader Swiss Performance Index lost 0.40 per cent to 6,227.95.
"We're towards the top of the recent range, so from a short term technical standpoint you can understand why if there's a bit of bad news out there then people may either just stop buying or take a bit of profit," said Stewart Richardson, chief investment officer of RMG Wealth Management in London.
"People have been reassessing where there's value in the market. When looking at European equities, you find fairly good companies that have been marked down in the past, but give good dividend yields. And now things are not as bad with the [European Central Bank] and [European Union] making progress," said Frances Hudson, global thematic strategist at Standard Life Investments.
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