The Swiss Stock Market Climbed On The Strength Of The Bank Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with a significant increase, nearly erasing the losses of the two previous days. The bank stocks lead the way higher at the end of the trading week, following better than expected quarter reports from some of the largest U.S. banks.

Investor sentiment also received a boost from some comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen stated Thursday that the U.S. economy is facing no serious obstacles in the short term.

The Swiss Market Index increased by 0.92 percent Friday and finished at 8,452.19. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 0.4 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 1.15 percent Friday and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.85 percent.

The big banks were the top performing stocks of the session. UBS jumped 3.8 percent and Credit Suisse advanced 3.0 percent. The bank stocks leaped after JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America reported better than expected quarterly results. Julius Baer also finished higher by 2.0 percent.

Swiss Re and Zurich both gained 1.2 percent each. Baloise advanced 0.6 percent and Swiss Life added 0.4 percent. HSBC increased its price target on all four of the stocks.

Among the cyclicals, Dufry and LafargeHolcim both climbed by 2.4 percent and ABB rose 1.3 percent.

The luxury goods companies added to their strong gains from the previous session. Swatch climbed 1.1 percent and Richemont rose 0.5 percent. Shares of both stocks surged Thursday after a strong third quarter report from Richemont.

The pharma heavyweights bounced back from Thursday's weak performance. Roche increased 1.3 percent and Novartis gained 0.3 percent. Actelion also climbed 1.1 percent on reports that negotiations between the company and Johnson & Johnson are making progress.