Swiss shares sharply higher midmorning tracking US, led by financials |
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Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:45
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ZURICH (AFX) - Share prices moved sharply higher in morning trade, extending yesterday's gains, lifted by overnight Japanese and US gains after the US Fed left interest rates unchanged, dealers said.At 10.21 am, the Swiss Market Index was 106.89 points higher at 9,049.05 and the Swiss Performance Index was up 82.56 points or 1.2 pct at 7,229.47.The euro fell slightly against the Swiss franc, to 1.6179 sfr, as did the US dollar to 1.2104 sfr.The SMI has breached a technical resistance at 9,050 and might well reach 9,300 later in the trading session buoyed by upbeat sentiment, a local trader said.Top gainer was Julius Baer, up 5.1 sfr or 3.2 pct at 166.3 sfr, followed by UBS, up 1.7 sfr or 2.4 pct at 73.2, extending gains yesterday, and Lonza, up 3 sfr or 2.7 pct at 116.6 sfr.Credit Suisse was also among the top gainers, up 2 sfr or 2.3 pct at 89.35 sfr.Among insurers, Zurich Financial added 4.3 sfr or 1.2 pct at 350 sfr, and Swiss Re gained 0.9 sfr at 107.6 sfr.Swisscom added 2 sfr at 442 sfr, on reports that it has secured funding of 8.1 bln sfr through several banks including Credit Suisse, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Societe Generale and UBS to finance its takeover bid of Italy's Fastweb SpA.Among pharmas, Roche gained 2.7 sfr or 1.2 pct at 220.7 sfr, and Novartis was off 0.05 sfr at 69.15 sfr, on profit-taking.Nestle gained 2.5 sfr at 475 sfr.Outside the SMI, SIG was flat at 431.75 sfr. Earlier today, the group's board recommended shareholders accept the increased takeover offer of 435 sfr in cash per share by New Zealand firm Rank Group Holding, as expected.afx.zurich@afxnews.comckj//ckj/rfwCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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Swiss shares close sharply higher on rebound, US, led by financials, chemicals 