ZURICH (Thomson Financial) - Swiss shares were higher thin afternoon trade, with stocks turning upwards amid a strong lead from Swiss Re following its 2.35 bln stg offer to Standard Life to acquire certain of Resolution's closed book operations.
At 2.15 pm, the Swiss Market Index was 40.94 points higher at 8,957.15 and the Swiss Performance Index was 31.03 points up at 7,317.26.
Focus was on Swiss Re, which climbed 2.7 pct, or 2.80 sfr to 107.40, after making a 2.35 bln stg offer to buy certain of Resolution plc's closed books operations from Standard Life. The deal is conditional on Standard Life's completion of its acquisition of Resolution.
Elsewhere in the sector, Zurich Financial added 0.25 sfr at 346.70, and Swiss Life fell 0.50 sfr to 314.50.
In other financials, Julius Baer rose 2.5 pct, or 2.30 sfr, to 94.35, but rivals underperformed. UBS was down 1.5 pct, or 0.95 sfr, and Credit Suisse 1.3 pct, or 1.00 sfr lower at 75.20.
Amongst the market's other losers, Adecco was the market's biggest decliner, falling 2.2 pct, or 1.55 sfr, at 69.25. Earlier, Citigroup downgraded its stance on Adecco to 'sell' from 'buy', citing the sharp decline in staffing demand in Europe since the beginning of the year.
Blue-chip pharmaceuticals were down across the board, with Novartis easing 0.10 sfr to 60.40 and Roche falling 1.3 pct, or 2.50 sfr, at 199.10.
Outside the SMI, Swissquote rose 1.6 pct, or 1.10 sfr, to 70.20 after reporting a first nine-month net profit rise of 40.8 pct to 35.9 mln sfr, with an increasing number of new customers and improved operational efficiency.
Siegfried was 1 sfr lower at 192. Earlier the pharmaceutical company missed nine-month sales forecasts after reporting sales of 227.7 mln sfr. Analysts had called for 236-239 mln sfr.
Bucher rose 1.6 pct, or 4.25 sfr, to 276.25 amid price target hikes by analysts on the back of its forecast-beating 9 months results yesterday. sarah.fenwick@thomson.com sf/rw COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
© 2007 AFX News
