BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session with a significant increase, adding to its gains from the previous two days. The solid gain drove the market to a new high for the year. Investors remain confident ahead of the upcoming runoff election in France on Sunday. Polls indicate that Emmanuel Macron remains firmly in the lead in his race against Marine Le Pen.
Investors had their first opportunity to react to yesterday's policy decision from the Federal Reserve. As expected, the central bank left rates unchanged, but revealed that it expects to raise rates twice more this year. Traders will be watching for the release of the US jobs report for April on Friday.
The Swiss Market Index increased 0.99 percent Thursday and finished at 8,980.02. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.82 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.89 percent.
Swiss Re advanced 1.8 percent after its better than expected report. The company's quarterly profit nearly halved due to insurance payments related to Cyclone Debbie in Australia.
Swiss Life climbed 1.2 percent, Bâloise gained 1.5 percent and Zurich Insurance added 0.9 percent.
The index heavyweights all finished in the green Thursday. Nestlé lead the way with a gain of 2.3 percent. Roche advanced 1.1 percent and Novartis added 0.2 percent.
Aryzta was the top gainer of the session, with an increase of 4.2 percent. LafargeHolcim finished higher by 1.0 percent, recovering some of its losses following its first quarter report yesterday.
Credit Suisse rose 1.0 percent. The company reached a settlement with US authorities in a dispute over mortgage securities. The bank agreed to pay US$400 million. Rival bank UBS closed higher by 0.9 percent.
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