The Swiss Stock Market Climbed On Pharma Strength

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Monday's session with a solid gain. The market got off to a positive start and surged in early trade. A late morning retreat was erased in late trade, thanks to the positive performance of the U.S. equity markets.

Despite the strong performance at the start of the new trading week, the attitude among investors remained cautious. Investors continue to worry about the situation in Greece. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is continuing to stick to his red lines even with the country quickly running out of money.

The Swiss Market Index climbed by 0.95 percent Monday and finished at 9,196.55. The Swiss Leader Index gained 0.74 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.85 percent.

Swatch surged by 3.1 percent, after Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on the stock to "Outperform." Shares of competitor Richemont also advanced by 0.7 percent.

The strong performance of the index heavyweights also provided a boost to the overall market. Novartis increased by 1.7 percent and Roche added 1.2 percent. Shares of Nestle also rose by 0.6 percent.

Sika finished higher by 2.5 percent. The shareholder group led by Bill Gates has failed an appeal against FINMA decision from earlier this month regarding Saint-Gobain. Syngenta was another notable gainer, with an increase of 1.0 percent.

UBS gained 0.9 percent on reports that it is close to reaching an agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice regarding the case for currency manipulation. Shares of Credit Suisse fell by 0.7 percent.

Swisscom declined by 0.8 percent. Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to "Equal weight." Transocean was another notable downside performer, losing 1.3 percent.