The Swiss Stock Market Climbed After Roche Posted Strong Gains

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market finished in the green at the start of the new trading week, thanks in large part to the strong gains of index heavyweight Roche. Investor sentiment continued to receive a boost from the belief that the European Central Bank is likely to announce further quantitative easing measures at its next meeting.

While most of the European markets were under pressure during the middle portion of Monday's session due to the decline in the price of oil, the Swiss market felt little impact. However, shares of Transocean were weak and finished with a loss of 3.5 percent.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.52 percent Monday and finished at 9,152.97. The Swiss Leader Index climbed by 0.41 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.46 percent.

Roche climbed by 1.6 percent. The company entered into a broad strategic collaboration with U.S. company Foundation Medicine. Roche also acquired a majority interest in the company.

Biopharmaceutical stocks were among the largest gainers Monday. Actelion climbed by 2.8 percent and Lonza added 2.5 percent. The gains were attributed to positive news from U.S. drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Syngenta also increased by 1.2 percent, following an upgrade by Bank of America Merrill Lynch to "Buy" from "Neutral."

Nestle finished with a gain of 0.8 percent, but Novartis dipped by 0.2 percent. Zurich Insurance rose by 0.8 percent. Credit Suisse fell by 0.5 percent and UBS lost 0.3 percent.