The Swiss Stock Market Finished The Week In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a strong increase, adding to the gains of the previous session. The market finished the overall trading week with a gain, which was the first positive week since 2016 began.

The market got off to a positive start Friday and continued to gain ground for much of the session. However, the market did give back some of its gains in late trade. Dovish comments from ECB President Mario Draghi yesterday continued to influence trading activity today. A strong recovery in crude oil prices also contributed to the positive mood among investors.

The Swiss Market Index increased 2.94 percent Friday and finished at 8,271.11. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 2.0 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 2.83 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index gained 2.81 percent.

Cyclical stocks were among the strongest performing stocks at the end of the trading week. LafargeHolcim surged 5.9 percent, Lonza rose 3.7 percent and ABB added 3.4 percent.

Defensive stocks such as Swisscom were also in demand. Swisscomm increased 3.9 percent. Novartis and Roche both finished higher by 3.4 percent.

The luxury goods companies were also among the gainers. Richemont advanced 3.1 percent and Swatch added 2.7 percent.

Geberit closed higher by 3.1 percent. The company announced that Robert Spoerry will step down from its Board of Directors in early April.

Credit Suisse finished up by 2.9 percent, regaining some of yesterday's losses. There were rumors that new CEO Tidjane Thiam may soon depart his position.

Transocean gained 1.3 percent as crude oil prices continued to recover.

In the broad market, BB Biotech leaped 5.6 percent after it announced a dividend increase and a stock split in the ratio of 1:5.