The Swiss Stock Market Finished Solidly Higher On Hopes For ECB Stimulus

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market rallied higher Thursday, adding to the gains of the previous session. Equity markets are recovering from the losses at the beginning of the week as the price of oil shows signs of stabilizing. Investors are also looking forward to the release of the U.S. jobs report for December on Friday.

There is now widespread speculation among investors that the European Central Bank will announce further quantitative easing measures at its next monetary policy meeting on January 22. Investors continue to monitor the situation in Greece as the country's January 25 elections approach.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 2.68 percent Thursday and finished at 9,139.69. The Swiss Leader Index climbed by 2.32 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 2.49 percent.

The overall index received a boost from the strong performance of index heavyweights Roche and Novartis. Novartis surged by 4.2 percent and Roche added 3 percent. Nestle also gained 1.8 percent.

Biopharmaceutical company Actelion rose by 2.5 percent and Galenica climbed by 4.8 percent. Richemont increased by 4.2 percent, Givaudan gained 3.1 percent and Geberit added 2.6 percent.

Credit Suisse recovered from early losses and finished with a gain of 1.4 percent. UBS climbed by 1.6 percent and Julius Baer added 1.4 percent.