BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended the first session of the new trading week with a solid gain. After struggling at the outset, the market turned higher during the second half of the morning and advanced further in the afternoon.
The strong performance of the index heavyweights helped to propel the market higher, especially food giant Nestle. The positive open on Wall Street provided further support in the afternoon.
The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.84 percent Monday and finished at 8,978.65. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.82 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 1.17 percent.
Nestlé rallied 1.6 percent after the consumer goods giant announced a deal to sell Starbucks products worldwide.
Novartis also climbed 1.1 percent and Roche added 0.9 percent. The FDA has granted priority review to Roche's Tecentriq. The FDA also approved Novartis' thyroid cancer treatment.
Swiss Re gained 0.9 percent. Talks between the global reinsurance player and SoftBank over an investment in the reinsurance company are close to collapsing after three months of discussions, the Financial Times reported.
Lonza was among the top performing stocks of the session, surging 3.7 percent. Sika advanced 2.3 percent and Addeco rose 2 percent.
UBS was among the few negative performers, sinking 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse increased 1 percent and Julius Baer added 1.8 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX