Yellen's Speech Propelled The Swiss Market Into Positive Territory

(RTTNews) - The Swiss stock market ended Friday's session with moderate gains. The market got off to a weak start and was mired in a sideways trend for much of the session. However, the market broke out into positive territory after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's highly anticipated speech.

Yellen stated that the case for a rate hike has intensified in recent months, during her speech at the Jackson Hole summit. No specifics for the timing of a rate hike were provided, but Yellen reiterated that the rate will rise "gradually" over time.

The Swiss Market Index increased 0.33 percent Friday and finished at 8,168.32. The SMI ended the trading week with an overall gain of 0.5 percent. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.43 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.33 percent.

Aryzta ended Friday's session higher by 1.7 percent. The stock had fallen around 2.0 percent yesterday on fears of increasing restructuring costs and troubles stemming from the U.K. exit of the Eurozone.

Companies with ties to the construction industry fared well at the end of the week. LafargeHolcim climbed 1.5 percent, while Schindler PS and Geberit both increased by 1.0 percent each.

Credit Suisse advanced 1.3 percent Friday and rival UBS added 0.8 percent. Givaudan was another notable gainer, with an increase of 0.8 percent. ABB and Actelion both closed up by 0.7 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished with modest gains. Nestle ended the session higher by 0.3 percent. Roche climbed 0.3 percent and Novartis added 0.1 percent, recovering some of yesterday's lost ground.

Galenica was the weakest performing stock of the session, falling 1.1 percent. Luxury goods companies Swatch and Richemont both finished with losses of 0.2 percent each.

In the broad market, u-blox dropped 4.9 percent after reporting disappointing results. Burckhardt Compression sank 7.4 percent after it announced job cuts.