Sharp Swiss share drop

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 29

Sharp Swiss share drop

NZPA-Reuter Zurich Swiss shares on Tuesday suffered one of their sharpest falls In recent years, influenced by the recent gloom on Wall Street and other key international markets. The leading Swiss Bank Corporation index dropped 19.2 points, or 3.2 per cent, and fell through the 600-point level to the year’s low of 581.2. Dealers blamed the fall from Monday’s 600.4 fin-

ish on continued worries about the U.S. economic outlook and the falling dollar. Although domestic institutions appeared not to join in the sell-off, dealers variously reported heavy selling both by foreign institutions and some small domestic investors. Some 10 per cent has been wiped off the value of Swiss shares in the last two weeks or so. The index, based on prices at the country’s major ex-

changes, began the year at 659.8 and peaked at 673.4 on January 8. Dealers said selling mostly concentrated on blue chips. Despite good mid-year results, shares of major banks. Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation were down, with Zurich Insurance Company and Swiss Reinsurance Company also falling. Big industrials such as Ciba-Geigy, Sandoz, Brown Boveri and Sulzer

also moved lower with losses of as much as 10 per cent or more for smaller, financial sector companies.