Friday January 11, 01:08 PM
Swiss shares lower in afternoon trade, dragged down by heavyweights
ZURICH (Thomson Financial) - Swiss shares were lower in early afternoon trade, as heavyweight Nestle (4707.KL - news) held down the index and as Wall Street futures pointed to a negative start.
At 1.45 pm, the Swiss Market Index was down 71.60 points to 8,219.18, while the Swiss Performance Index was 59.90 points lower at 6,650.88.
The euro fell to 1.6302 sfr against the Swiss franc, while the dollar was also lower at 1.1026 sfr.
Traders said uncertainty in the market is prevailing, with worries about recession.
In addition, heavyweights Nestle, Roche (Virt-X: ROG.VX - news) and Novartis (Virt-X: NOVN.VX - news) all fell, dragging down the index.
Nestle was down 22.50 sfr or 4.4 pct to 491.50, in line with its European rivals, as downgrades of Unilever (LSE: ULVR.L - news) and Danone (Paris: FR0000120644 - news) weighed on the food sector.
Major pharma blue chips were also in the red, with Novartis sliding 0.35 sfr to 65.10 and Roche trading 0.80 sfr lower at 207.80.
Richemont also declined, down 3.05 sfr or 4.3 pct to 67.20.
Swatch was also weaker, falling 9.00 sfr or 3.1 pct to 283.25.
At the other end of the index, Swiss Re (Virt-X: RUKN.VX - news) led gainers, up 2.40 sfr or 3.1 pct at 80.00, as Morgan Stanley (SPU - news) released an upbeat note describing it as a 'standout buy on valuation'.
The investment house also revealed that the Swiss insurer's CEO Jacques Aigrain had given explicit reassurance that Swiss Re had no further subprime exposure than that already disclosed.
ABB (Stockholm: ABB-U.ST - news) also gained, up 0.50 sfr or 1.8 pct at 28.50. Earlier it was upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) .
Banks were mixed, with Credit Suisse up 0.25 sfr at 62.75 and Julius Baer down 0.50 sfr to 81.30.
UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) was up 0.36 sfr at 49.42. In a letter to investors, it said 2008 is like to be another difficult year.
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