The Swiss Stock Market Climbed On Strong Corporate Financial Results

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session solidly in positive territory. The market surpassed the 9,400 point level during the session, but retreated in late trading. The weak opening of the U.S. equity markets was blamed for the late day weakness.

Greece cleared another hurdle and stepped into the bailout zone after the government approved the second set of reform measures early Thursday. As concerns over Greece have continued to subside, investors have shifted their focus to corporate financial results, which provided a boost to the Swiss market today.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.99 percent Thursday and finished at 9,381.57. The Swiss Leader Index rose by 0.97 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.91 percent.

Credit Suisse was the top performer of the session, with a gain of 6.2 percent. The lender reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit after a 700 million francs loss in the year-ago period. Shares of UBS also climbed by 2.0 percent.

Shares of index heavyweight Roche advanced by 1.6 percent, after its strong performance in the first half of the year. The company now expects to report full year results at the upper end of its guidance range. Meanwhile, Novartis rose by 0.5 percent.

ABB climbed by 1.7 percent, after its second quarter profit topped expectations.

However, Syngenta dropped by 0.8 percent. The company reported that its net income for the first half of the year slid 12 percent. Syngenta also reiterated that it remains committed to fending off the proposed takeover by U.S. rival Monsanto.

Logitech surged by 7.2 percent, after its first quarter results surpassed expectations.