BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session with a substantial gain. The strong performance from index heavyweight Novartis helped to drive the market higher. Following the recovery of the past few sessions the market is again approaching the 9,000 point level.
Traders are looking forward to the release of the U.S. jobs report for August tomorrow. U.S. private sector employment came in better than expected earlier this week and weekly jobless claims increased by less than anticipated today.
The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.84 percent Thursday and finished at 8,925.45. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.61 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.81 percent.
Shares of index heavyweight Novartis surged 2.1 percent Thursday. The U.S. FDA has approved the company's Kymriah for the treatment of a certain form of leukemia. Nestlé and Roche gained 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Kühne + Nagel advanced 1.7 percent, ABB gained 1.4 percent and Swatch added 1.3 percent. ABB benefitted from positive comments from Barclays.
Baloise rose 0.7 percent. The stock extended its gains from the previous session, following its half year report.
Julius Baer finished higher by 0.4 percent Exane BNP Paribas has rated the stock an 'Outperform.' UBS slipped 0.2 percent after it was rated 'Outperform,' whereas Credit Suisse added 0.1 percent after it was rated 'Neutral.'
Aryzta dropped 2.1 percent. Geberit weakened by 0.7 percent and Swiss Life lost 0.5 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX