The Swiss Stock Market Jumped On Strength Of Index Heavyweights

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a significant increase. The market managed to nearly reverse the losses from Monday and Tuesday over the course of the past 3 sessions. The strong performance of the index heavyweights drove the overall market higher. Shares of Actelion were also in focus due to takeover rumors.

Despite the strong gain at the end of the week, trading activity was rather subdued. Trading activity on Wall Street remained sparse, due to the abbreviated trading session following yesterday's Thanksgiving Day holiday. Investors also turned cautious ahead of the upcoming Italian constitutional referendum.

The Swiss Market Index increased 1.06 percent Friday and finished at 7,881.53. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall loss of 0.3 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.81 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.97 percent.

Actelion surged 16.7 percent. Bloomberg reported that U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson has approached the biotech firm about a potential takeover. Actelion confirmed shortly before the close that J&J has approached it about a potential deal.

Healthcare stock Galenica also jumped 4.6 percent, due to the the takeover rumors surrounding Actelion. Molecular Partners leaped 4.2 percent, Basilea gained 3.1 percent and Ypsomed closed up by 3.0 percent.

Shares of Meyer Burger soared 21 percent. The creditors of the solar supplier have cleared the way for a recapitalization of the company and approved the requested adjustments to the terms of a convertible bond. The company also announced changes to its Board and long-term CEO Peter Pauli will step down.

The index heavyweights all ended the session sharply higher. Roche climbed 1.5 percent and Novartis rose 1.2 percent. Shares of Nestlé also finished higher by 1.9 percent.

Sika was also among the gainers, with an increase of 1.1 percent. Kuehne + Nagel rose 1.2 percent and Givaudan added 0.9 percent.

Bank stocks were under pressure across Europe. Credit Suisse weakened by 2.2 percent and UBS fell 0.1 percent. Julius Baer also surrendered 0.8 percent.

Sulzer finished higher by 3.1 percent after Baader Helvea upgraded its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Hold."