The Swiss Stock Market Finished Higher As Banks Recover

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Monday's session with a slight gain, following last week's significant decline. The market remained in a narrow trading range between 8,145 points and 8,185 points throughout the session. The positive performance in Asia overnight had investors in a positive mood and solid local data also provided support. Manufacturing data from Britain, Italy and France all came in above expectations.

Concerns over a potential new banking crisis relaxed at the start of the new trading week, on reports that Germany's Deutsche Bank is nearing a $5.4 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. The banks recovered ground today, but overall, traders remained in a cautious mood.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.34 percent Monday and finished at 8,166.32. The Swiss Leader Index advanced 0.29 percent and the Swiss Performance Index gained 0.40 percent.

Aryzta was the top performing stock of the session, with an increase of 3.4 percent. Galenica was another notable gainer, rising 2.4 percent. Sonova climbed 1.2 percent, while Sika and ABB both gained 0.8 percent.

The big bank stocks recovered some ground Monday, following last week's weak performance. Credit Suisse advanced 0.8 percent and UBS rose 0.2 percent. However, Julius Baer ended the day with a loss of 0.1 percent.

Index heavyweight Novartis increased 0.7 percent. The company presented new findings from the largest global survey to date of people with psoriasis. Roche and Nestle both added 0.3 percent each.

Swatch fell 1.0 percent after Credit Suisse reduced its price target on the stock and confirmed its "Underperform" rating.