The Swiss Stock Market Climbed After Strong Performance From Nestle

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session in the green, bouncing back from 2 days of losses. The strong performance of index heavyweight Nestle helped to propel the market higher.

Investors were encouraged by the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve, which were released after the European close yesterday. Fed officials remain divided on whether to raise interest rates. Many officials said it was appropriate to wait for additional information before deciding another rate hike was warranted.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.44 percent Thursday and finished at 8,189.73. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.40 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.48 percent.

Index heavyweight Nestle recovered from its weak start and finished with a gain of 1.5 percent. The food giant reported results for the first half of the year, reporting its slowest first-half sales growth since 2009. Nestle also reiterated its full-year guidance.

Meanwhile, shares of Swisscom dropped 1.6 percent. The company reported better than expected results for the first half of the year and increased its forecast for the full year 2016. The stock got off to a strong start, but quickly reversed and remained in negative territory.

Galenica was another notable decliner, with a loss of 1.1 percent. Julius Baer forfeited 0.5 percent and UBS dipped 0.2 percent. Swiss Re slipped 0.3 percent after Citigroup downgraded the stock to "Sell."

The pharmaceutical heavyweights also finished in the red. Roche fell 0.3 percent and Novartis dipped 0.1 percent.

Geberit rose to a new record higher Thursday. The stock finished up by 1.2 percent. Schindler climbed 2.2 percent, recovering some of its lost ground from Tuesday following its financial report. Luxury goods companies Swatch and Richemont both closed higher by 1.4 percent each.