The Swiss Stock Market Rebounded At The Start Of The New Trading Week

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Monday's session in the green, following two weeks of losses. The market got off to a strong start, as investors stepped in to snap up stocks at reduced prices. However, investors remained in a cautious mood ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement on Wednesday.

Recent soft U.S. economic data has led most analysts to predict that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank could still surprise the markets. Traders are also looking forward to Wednesday's announcement from the Bank of Japan.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.80 percent Monday and finished at 8,195.71. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.76 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.79 percent.

Dufry was the top gainer of the session, with an increase of 1.9 percent, followed closely by LafargeHolcim which rose 1.8 percent. HSBC raised its price target on the shares of the cement company. Chairman Beat Hess also stated in a weekend interview that the integration of the two companies, Lafarge and Holcim, is largely complete.

As for the rest of the cyclicals, SGS climbed 1.4 percent and Kuehne + Nagel added 1.0 percent. Richemont increased 1.3 percent and Swatch rose 0.6 percent ahead of the publication of watch export data.

Novartis advanced 1.4 percent and Roche added 1.0 percent. Novartis released an analysis related to its heart failure drug Entresto.

Shares of ABB climbed 0.8 percent. The company's Capital Markets Day will take place in about two weeks.

Bank stocks turned in a relatively flat performance Monday, following sharp losses at the end of the previous week. Credit Suisse dipped 0.3 percent, while UBS rose 0.1 percent. European banks were under pressure at the end of the previous week after Deutsche Bank was fined by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the broad market, Charles Vögele jumped 1.8 percent after it received a takeover offer from an investor group led by the Italian fashion group OVS.