The Swiss Stock Market Climbed Despite Failed Doha Meeting

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week in the green. The market was under pressure during the first hour of trade, after the meeting of major oil producing nations in Doha failed to result in an agreement on a production freeze over the weekend. Crude oil prices were weak in early trade, but recouped their losses over the course of the session.

The market returned to profitability in the afternoon, thanks in part to the gains in the United States. The SMI also managed to rise back above the psychologically important 8,000 point level. Investors have begun to shift their focus to the U.S. earnings reporting season, which will see a significant increase this week over last.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.37 percent Monday and finished at 8,044.60. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.39 percent and the Swiss Performance Index rose 0.34 percent.

Index heavyweight Roche gained 0.6 percent ahead of its earnings report tomorrow. Novartis climbed 0.9 percent and Actelion advanced 2.5 percent. Both companies are expected to report results on Thursday.

Kuehne + Nagel decreased 0.7 percent. The logistics group is scheduled to report first quarter results on Tuesday. ABB ended the session unchanged. The company will report quarterly results for the first time since the newly created structure with four divisions. Syngenta rose 0.3 percent, ahead of its report on Wednesday.

Schindler weakened by 0.6 percent. The insurance stocks also turned in a weak performance Monday. Swiss Life dropped 0.7 percent, Baloise lost 0.3 percent and Swiss Re dipped 0.2 percent. However, Zurich Insurance managed a gain of 0.1 percent.

The big banks finished in the green, despite a weak start to the session. UBS rose 0.5 percent and Credit Suisse advanced 0.8 percent. The stocks received support from the better than expected results reported by U.S. rival Morgan Stanley. However, Julius Baer slipped 0.3 percent.

The cyclicals also fared well at the start of the new trading week. Dufry increased 1.5 percent, LafargeHolcim advanced 1.2 percent and Adecco gained 1.1 percent.

In the broad market, the volatile Accu Holding declined over 10 percent, following its gain of 13 percent Friday. Friday evening, the company announced that Marco Marchetti resigned as Chairman of the Board and head due to a criminal investigation.