The Swiss Stock Market Finished The Week With A Gain

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a solid gain and finished the overall trading week with an increase. The positive performance for the week snapped a three week losing streak. Trading activity was rather quiet Friday, with modest gains at the open and another burst higher around the opening of the U.S. markets.

The market received support from rising crude oil prices. Investors remain hopeful that the major oil producing countries will reach an agreement to cut production. Investor sentiment also received a boost from the stronger than expected German export data.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.72 percent Friday and finished at 7,817.55. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 1.7 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.79 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.77 percent.

Cyclicals were among the most sought after stocks Friday. Adecco increased 2.4 percent and Schindler added 2.1 percent. ABB advanced 1.9 percent and Kuehne + Nagel gained 1.9 percent.

Financial stocks also turned in a strong performance. Credit Suisse climbed 2.0 percent, Julius Baer rose 1.7 percent and UBS finished up by 1.1 percent. Swiss Re increased 1.6 percent and Baloise advanced 1.3 percent. Zurich Insurance gained 0.9 percent and Swiss Life rose 1.0 percent. Leonteq jumped 3.4 percent and Vontobel closed higher by 3.1 percent.

Richemont increased 2.0 percent, recovering from yesterday's weak performance. Swatch also climbed 1.0 percent.

Swisscom dropped 3.9 percent, as it began trading on an ex-dividend basis. Aryzta declined 3.1 percent after Berenberg cut its price target on the stock.

Among the index heavyweights, Roche rose 0.2 percent and Novartis gained 0.6 percent. Shares of Nestle also finished higher by 0.8 percent.