The Swiss Stock Market Continues To Gain Ground

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market continued its upward trend Thursday, rising for the fifth consecutive trading session. The market received support from the positive performance of index heavyweights Nestle and Novartis. Rising crude oil prices also contributed to the gains, as they rose above US$50 a barrel for the first time in nearly 7 months.

The mood among investors was cautious Thursday, following the strong gains of the last few sessions. Profit taking will likely follow the strong upward move and investors remain uncertain about the outlook for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.76 percent Thursday and finished at 8,229.55. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.75 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.72 percent.

Richemont jumped 2.9 percent and Swatch added 2.0 percent. The luxury goods companies dropped earlier this week after the disappointing report from Richemont and weak Swiss watch export data. Natixis retained its "Neutral" rating on Richemont today and reaffirmed its "Buy" rating on shares of Swatch.

ABB climbed 1.6 percent. Barclays reaffirmed its "Overweight" rating on the stock. UBS maintained its "Neutral" rating on the stock and increased its price target.

Index heavyweight Nestle rose 1.2 percent. The food company held an investor conference and the message of management was generally positive.

Novartis gained 0.6 percent. The stock was up yesterday on the outlook for its heart drug Entresto. Roche also finished the session higher by 0.2 percent.

Bank stocks were in focus in Europe Thursday after a sharp decline in Spanish banks. The pullback was triggered after Banco Popular announced plans to raise up to 2.5 billion euros through a share issue.

Julius Baer advanced 1.3 percent and UBS added 0.8 percent. Credit Suisse ended the day with a loss of 0.3 percent.

In the broad market, Evolva surged 8.2 percent. The company was granted a European patent for the manufacture of a stevia sweetener with a new fermentation technology.