The Swiss Stock Market Finished With A Modest Increase

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a modest gain. The market got off to a positive start and continued to rise until around midday. The strong performance of the pharma heavyweights also contributed to the early strength.

However, the market ran out of steam after the weak opening of the U.S. equity markets. Falling crude oil prices are having a negative impact on the U.S. markets today. An absence of U.S. economic data is also keeping some investors on the sidelines, ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed is expected to announce an interest rate hike at the meeting, following Friday's strong employment report.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.25 percent Monday and finished at 8,825.28. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.22 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.35 percent.

Novartis rose 0.6 percent and Roche gained 0.7 percent. The stocks were in focus due to the American Society Of Hematology Meeting. Fellow index heavyweight Nestle also finished higher by 0.20 percent.

Cyclical stocks, which was among the hardest hit last week, turned in a positive performance Monday. Lonza increased 2.0 percent and Schindler added 1.7 percent. Sonova advanced 1.1 percent, while SGS and Adecco rose 0.9 percent each.

Sika climbed 1.1 percent. The Saint-Gobain Group has now received all necessary antitrust approvals to acquire a controlling interest in the company.

Julius Baer gained 0.9 percent on reports that it is on the lookout for acquisitions in China and Brazil.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse dropped 1.4 percent. The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission is reportedly planning to file charges against the bank.

Transocean dropped 4.8 percent, due to falling crude oil prices.