The Swiss Stock Market Kicked Off The New Week With A Strong Gain

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a substantial increase. Rising crude oil prices was the driving force behind the move, as prices climbed back to around $31 a barrel. Markets have been moving largely in lock step with the price of oil since the start of 2016.

The Swiss Market Index increased 1.25 percent Monday and finished at 7,961.49. The SMI reached an intraday high of 7,996 points. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 1.37 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 1.19 percent.

Monday's rally was broad-based, with only a pair of blue chip stocks finishing in the red. Sika decreased 0.6 percent and Richemont dipped 0.2 percent.

Transocean was one of the best performing stocks of the session. Shares of the oil driller advanced 6.3 percent, thanks to the increase in crude oil prices.

Aryzta climbed 4.1 percent and Clariant gained 3.7 percent. Clariant was one of the weakest performing stocks last week, following its disappointing financial report.

UBS increased 3.0 percent and Zurich Insurance rose 2.2 percent. Swiss Re also gained 2.0 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished to the upside Monday, providing support to the overall market. Roche advanced 1.6 percent and Novartis added 1.4 percent. Shares of Nestlé also closed higher by 0.4 percent.

Shares of Adecco rose 1.4 percent, thanks to some better than expected macro data from France. SGS increased 0.8 percent, Syngenta gained 0.3 percent and Sonova added 0.2 percent.