The Swiss Stock Market Climbed On Strength Of Pharmaceutical Heavyweights

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session solidly in positive territory and finished the trading week with a significant increase. This marked the third consecutive week of gains for the market. The strong performance of the pharmaceutical heavyweights helped to drive the market higher at the end of the trading week.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.65 percent Friday and finished at 9,123.41. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 1.2 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.24 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.67 percent.

Novartis jumped 2.5 percent Friday and Roche advanced 1.2 percent. Shares of Nestle also finished higher by 0.80 percent.

Meanwhile, Richemont dropped 5 percent. The luxury goods maker has warned of "volatility and uncertainty" after reporting a 46 percent slide in annual net profit. Shares of Swatch also weakened by 3.9 percent.

Hearing aid manufacturer Sonova increased 2.7 percent, ahead of its earnings report next week Tuesday. Dufry also rose by 4.4 percent.

Syngenta fell by 1.4 percent after it paid out a special dividend. The stock will also be replaced by Sika in the SMI starting next week Monday. Shares of Sika surrendered 2.4 percent.

UBS ended the session unchanged, while Credit Suisse dropped by 1.3 percent.