The Swiss stock market began the new trading week with a modest increase, adding to the gains of the previous four sessions. The market climbed above the 9,500 point level Monday and was within striking distance of its all-time high.
Investors were encouraged by the better than expected manufacturing data out of the Eurozone Monday, but were disappointed by the weak manufacturing data from the United States. The Greek stock market reopened today after being shuttered for the past 5 weeks. The market sold-off sharply and finished the session with a loss of over 16 percent.
The Swiss Market Index climbed by 0.43 percent Monday and finished at 9,468.97. The Swiss Leader Index gained 0.37 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 0.44 percent.
Syngenta advanced by 2.6 percent due to a potential bidding war for the company. German chemical company BASF is said to have secured a line of credit in order to launch a possible offer for the company. U.S. rival Monsanto has also been in pursuit of Syngenta.
The index heavyweights all finished in the green Monday. Novartis increased by 0.7 percent and Roche added 0.2 percent. Nestle ended the session with a gain of 0.5 percent.
Clariant rose by 2.5 percent. The company continues to benefit from the half year results it released last week. Galenica increased by 2.4 percent and Lonza added 1.4 percent.
The luxury goods companies were under pressure due to concerns over China. Swatch declined by 0.7 percent and Richemont lost 0.9 percent. The Chinese manufacturing PMI fell to a 2-year low in July.
Transocean dropped by 4.4 percent, with crude oil prices under pressure. The oil service stock was down by 5 percent on Friday and has lost over 31 percent since the beginning of the year.
Shares of Sulzer were in focus during Monday's session. The stock surged by 7.3 percent after Viktor Vekselberg's investment firm Renova announced that it has increased its stake in the company to over 33 1/3 percent. According to Swiss law, Renova must now make a takeover bid for Sulzer.
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