The Swiss Stock Market Finished Higher On First Day Of 2014

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock markets ended its first trading session of 2014 in positive territory. The market got off to a slow start Friday, but soon climbed into the green and continued to rise for the rest of the session.

The weak start to the session was attributed to the drop in the Chinese non-manufacturing data. However, the unemployment data from Spain and the inflation data from Italy were viewed positively by investors. Trading remained on the light side Friday, due to the recent holidays.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.82 percent Friday and finished at 8,270.46. The Swiss Leader Index rose by 0.66 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.80 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the green Friday. Shares of Nestle led the way, with a gain of 1.3 percent. Roche increased by 1.1 percent and Novartis rose by 0.6 percent.

ABB rose by 0.5 percent, after it received a positive assessment from Merrill Lynch. Transocean increased by 1.8 percent and Actelion added 1.7 percent. Syngenta climbed by 1.6 percent and Lonza gained 1.5 percent.