The Swiss Stock Market Jumped After Strong Report From Roche

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session with a significant increase, adding to the gains of the prior session. Crude oil prices recovered today, following the setback at the Doha meeting over the weekend, which resulted in no agreement on a production freeze. Strong economic sentiment data from Germany also provided a boost to investor sentiment.

The Swiss stock market also benefitted from the strong performance of index heavyweight Roche on Tuesday, following its better than expected quarterly report.

The Swiss Market Index increased 1.34 percent Tuesday and finished at 8,152.76. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 1.18 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 1.29 percent.

Shares of Roche jumped 2.0 percent. The pharma giant reported better than expected first quarter sales and reiterated its outlook for the full year 2016.

Novartis gained 0.5 percent and Actelion advanced 1.0 percent. Goldman Sachs lowered its price target slightly on Novartis, but maintained its "Neutral" rating.

Elevator manufacturer Schindler was among the best performing stocks of the session, with an increase of 2.7 percent. Zurich Insurance gained 2.6 percent and SGS added 2.1 percent. Swatch rose 1.9 percent and ABB climbed 1.4 percent.

Financial stocks turned in a solid performance Tuesday. UBS climbed 1.8 percent Credit Suisse rose 1.4 percent. Julius Baer also finished higher by 0.8 percent.

Index heavyweight Nestle closed higher by 1.9 percent. French rival Danone reported quarterly revenues above expectations. French cosmetics group L'Oreal also reported strong quarterly numbers. Nestle holds a stake in the company.

Kuehne + Nagel rose 0.1 percent after it reported better than expected first quarter results. The stock had risen in advance of the report, which may explain today's modest increase.