The Swiss franc declined from a near three week high against the US dollar today as a report showed that the rise in inflation was lower than expectations and carry trade momentum lost some strength. Swiss has also been weak against other currencies as well, as the Swiss franc has fallen almost 3 percent versus the euro thus far this year.
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Livermore Will Reportedly Buy Freehold Property in Switzerland for 38.3 Million:
Livermore Investments Group Ltd said it has purchased, on a sale and lease back basis, a 34,000 square metre commercial freehold property, Wylerpark in Switzerland for 38.3 million Swiss francs from the Swiss national railway company, SBB. The investment company said it will also build 39 luxury apartments on the acquired land and expects completion in 2008. The company said it sees a return on equity on the investment in excess of 8 pct following the development of the residential assets, and expects further further gains from exercising the additional development rights.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/07/03/afx3880050.html
Source: Forbes
Nestle Completes Novartis Unit Takeover:
Nestle SA completed its $2.5 billion takeover of Novartis Medical Nutrition, the food and drinks giant said Monday. Nestle was required to divest health care nutrition units in France and Spain to comply with antitrust demands by the European Commission, which was worried about the company’s new dominance of the market for liquid food, used to feed patients intravenously. The deal gives Nestle control of brands such as the Boost and Resource nutritional supplements, and Optifast dieting products. 2,000 Novartis employees are also joining the Swiss company.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200626.html
Source: Washingtonpost.com
Calmy-Rey urges action over poverty and hunger:
The Swiss president has called for “exceptional efforts” from the international community to ensure the world meets the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Speaking at the UN in Geneva on Monday, Micheline Calmy-Rey urged governments, multilateral agencies, civil society and the private sector to unite to lift millions out of poverty and hunger.
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Swiss_temperatures_rise_at_twice_the_average.html?siteSect=105&sid=7966028&cKey=1182926713000
Source: Swissinfo
Currency Market:
The Swiss franc declined from a near three week high against the US dollar today as a report showed that the rise in inflation was lower than expectations and carry trade momentum lost some strength. Swiss has also been weak against other currencies as well, as the Swiss franc has fallen almost 3 percent versus the euro thus far this year. As of 13:00 GMT, USDCHF was trading at 1.2155. The Swiss National Bank still remains firm on the opinion that the economy is growing at a strong pace and is not in favor of the depreciated Swiss franc.
Equity Market: Swiss Market Index:
Swiss equities were up today, mostly led by financial stocks as their US peers opened up higher today. The rise was also supported by favorable inflation numbers, hurting the case for further rate normalization by the Swiss National Bank. The Swiss Market Index closed the day slightly higher, gaining 47.73 points at 9240.31. UBS shares were up 0.7 resting at 74.05 on the news of its further expansion in the wealth management business in Japan. Meanwhile, Zurich Financials gained 1.1 percent, closing at 380.75 as it bought back 1.3 billion francs ($1.1 billion) of shares. Amongst the major gainers was also Myer Burger Technology, which gained 11 percent to 188.4.
Fixed-Income Market: 10-Year Swiss Government Bonds:
Swiss bonds fell today, pushing yields up 4.3 basis points to close at 3.245 percent. Bond performance today did not seem to affect the stock market, as the inflation data helped the equity uptrend.
