Not much action in any of the Swiss markets. Franc showed little response to the UBS Consumption Indicator released this morning. The local stock market opened lower but started showing a rising trend later in the day on speculation that US indices will open higher. Bond yields were mostly flat but rose sharply towards the end of the day.
[B][U]
Headlines:[/U][/B]
[B]UBS predicts strong economic growth:[/B]
Switzerland and Austria have committed themselves to a series of sustainability standards for the Euro 2008 football championships. Both countries say the tournament is due to start in less than take 12 months and should serve as a model for similar events in the future. The Swiss environment minister, Moritz Leuenberger, and his Austrian counterpart, Josef Pröll, signed a “sustainability charter” in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Monday. One of the aims is to encourage fans to travel to the matches by train or bus.
[I]Source: Swissinfo[/I]
[B]Swiss police criticized for rights violations:[/B]
Amnesty International has accused the Swiss police of human rights abuses and of rarely investigating these incidents or punishing those involved. Swiss police reacted with outrage at Monday’s report, “Switzerland: Police, Justice and Human Rights”, which they described as unreliable, and denied the accusations. At the launch of the report on Monday Amnesty said it had uncovered 30 cases in 14 cantons over the past three years in which police had committed often serious human rights violations. At least six civilians, in addition to several police officers, had been killed in these incidents, it added. The organization also denounced police behavior against asylum seekers, blacks, anti-globalization protestors, football fans and minors, who it said were victims of a disproportionate number of interventions, arbitrary detention and degrading treatment.
[I]Source: Swissinfo[/I]
[B]Swiss diplomat, U.N. envoy Brunner dies:[/B]
According to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Edouard Brunner, a former U.N. mediator in the Middle East and Georgia-Abkhazia conflicts who labeled British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as “vindictive” over the Falklands, has died. He was 75. Brunner, a former Swiss ambassador to Washington, died of an illness on Sunday at his home near Lake Geneva. He was No. 2 in the Foreign Ministry in the 1980s and said in his memoirs that Thatcher personally sank talks on restoring British ties with a newly democratic Argentina after the Falklands war.
Source: Seattlepi
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Obit_Brunner.html
[B]Currency Market:[/B]
The Franc did not show much volatility and continued to trade near its two week high on speculation that the central bank will continue raising interest rates. It fell by 45 pips due to fall in the UBS Leading Indicator but regained strength later in the day as the government increased its forecast of future growth and possible rate hikes. At 12:00pm New York time USDCHF traded at 1.2286. The Euro too was little changed against the Franc.
[B]Equity Market:[/B]
The Swiss equity market opened more than 50 points down but switched direction later in the day on expectations that US stock indices will open higher. The Swiss Index closed 25.26 points down, resting at 9,141.23. Interest in Financial companies was mixed whereas pharmaceuticals sector was resilient to the fall. The market’s best performer at the end of the session was Adecco which closed up 0.55 sfr at 95.30. Credit Suisse closed down 1.9 pct at 87.65 sfr. The market’s major decliner was Zurich Financial, which closed down 2.1 pct at 375.75 sfr.
[B]
Fixed-Income Market:
[/B]The yield on the 10-year bond increased 1 point closing at 3.174 since yesterday, making debt instruments cheaper.
