Swiss Stocks Climb After U.S. Jobs Report; Adecco, ABB, Credit Suisse Gain

Swiss stocks rallied, extending the biggest weekly advance for the Swiss Market Index in almost two months, after better-than-forecast U.S. jobs figures.

Adecco SA, the world’s largest supplier of temporary workers, and Credit Suisse Group AG, the second-biggest Swiss bank, advanced more than 3 percent. ABB Ltd., the world’s largest builder of electricity networks, also advanced.

The benchmark SMI climbed 67.06, or 1.1 percent, to 6,400.71 at the 5:30 p.m. close in Zurich, the highest level since June 22. The gauge has rallied 3.5 percent this week as U.S. and Chinese manufacturing growth and today’s jobs report helped ease concern about the economic recovery. The broader Swiss Performance Index gained 1 percent today.

Stocks extended gains today after a report showed private payrolls that exclude government agencies climbed 67,000. That followed a revised 107,000 increase in July that was more than initially estimated. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a gain of 40,000.

Shares of Adecco climbed 3.2 percent to 51 Swiss francs, while Credit Suisse and UBS AG climbed 3.2 percent to 47.09 francs and 1.8 percent to 18.23 francs respectively.

ABB climbed for a third day, rising 0.8 percent to 20.63 francs. The company has detected no signs of a double-dip U.S. slowdown and hasn’t seen “any kind of deviation from the first and second quarters,” the Financial Times reported, citing an interview with Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan.

Roche Holding AG, the world’s biggest maker of cancer treatments, gained 1.8 percent to 142.2 francs after the company announced plans to reduce costs and cut jobs in an attempt to counter pressure on drug prices and research setbacks. The drugmaker also confirmed its forecast for 2010.

Santhera Pharmaceutical Holding AG jumped 7.7 percent to 9.85 francs. The developer of drugs to combat nerve-related diseases and France’s Ipsen SA reached a license agreement to develop and sell fipamezole, which is being investigated as a treatment for dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

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