The Swiss Stock Market Jumped After U.S. Jobs Report Disappoints

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a significant gain. The market logged modest gains in early trade, but surged following the release of the weaker than expected U.S. jobs report for August. The weak report has convinced most traders that the Federal Reserve will refrain from raising interest rates at its meeting later this month.

U.S. non-farm payroll employment rose by 151,000 jobs in August after surging by an upwardly revised 275,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected employment to climb by about 175,000 jobs.

The Swiss Market Index increased 1.86 percent Friday and finished at 8,294.30. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 1.5 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 1.68 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 1.71 percent.

The pharmaceutical heavyweights staged a strong comeback on Friday, following the losses of the last few days. Roche jumped 2.3 percent and Novartis gained 2.2 percent. Roche announced that it has cut 190 jobs in Basel.

Baked goods company Aryzta surged 3.4 percent and healthcare group Galenica jumped percent. Galenica announced that it has completed its acquisition of US pharmaceutical company Relypsa.

Shares of ABB advanced 2.6 percent after Exane BNP upgraded its rating on the stock to "Outperform". SGS also rose 1.7 percent after it announced a small acquisition in Brazil.

The big bank stocks extended their recent winning streak. UBS closed higher by 2.1 percent and Credit Suisse gained 1.2 percent. Among the insurance stocks, Swiss Re climbed 1.2 percent and Swiss Life added 0.5 percent.