The Swiss Stock Market Rallied Higher After Return From Easter Holiday

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market rallied sharply higher Tuesday, after returning to action following the long Easter holiday weekend. Investors are optimistic that the Federal Reserve may delay its planned increase in interest rates, due to the weaker than expected U.S. jobs report for March, which was released on Friday.

After a meeting in Washington with IMF officials, Yanis Varoufakis, the country's finance minister, said on Sunday that Greece "intends to meet all obligations to all its creditors, ad infinitum." Investor sentiment also received a boost from the Eurozone investor confidence data, which rose to the highest level in nearly seven-and-a-half years in April.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 1.43 percent Tuesday and finished at 9,260.75. The Swiss Leader Index climbed by 1.29 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 1.57 percent.

The strong performance of the index heavyweights helped to drive the overall market higher. Roche and Novartis both advanced by 2.2 percent and Nestle finished higher by 1.3 percent.

Transocean was among the top gainers Tuesday, with an increase of nearly 12 percent. Energy stocks surged on Monday, due to an increase in crude oil prices. The increase in crude prices was due to the news that Saudi Arabia increased its prices for crude sales in Asia.

Financial stocks also turned in a positive performance. Credit Suisse climbed by 1.9 percent and UBS rose by 1.4 percent. Julius Baer also finished higher by 1.4 percent.

Cyclicals also finished in the green. SGS advanced by 2.3 percent and Actelion added 2.7 percent. Schindler increased by 2.9 percent and Aryzta gained 2.0 percent. Holcim ended the day higher by 1.5 percent. Swatch Group climbed by 1.1 percent and Richemont added 1.0 percent.

Zurich Insurance as among the few decliners, falling by nearly 5 percent. Geberit also dipped by 0.2 percent.