Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on March 20

Feintool International Holding AG

20/03/2020 06:40

ZURICH/BERLIN, March 20 (Reuters) - The Swiss blue-chip SMI
was seen opening 2.6% higher at 9,009.85 points on Friday,
according to pre-market indications by bank Julius Baer. Here
are some of the main factors that may affect Swiss stocks:
    
    CORONAVIRUS
    The world's richest nations poured unprecedented aid into
the global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in
the new epicentre Europe, with the number of deaths in Italy
outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus
originated.
    With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the
epidemic has stunned the world and drawn comparisons with
painful periods such as World War Two, the 2008 financial crisis
and the 1918 Spanish flu. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2BC2U7
    
    ZURICH  ZURN.S 
    Zurich Insurance  ZURN.S  will go forward with its annual
general meeting on April 1 without shareholders present, keeping
to its dividend proposal.

    LONZA  LONN.S 
    Lonza said it would go ahead with its annual general meeting
on April 28 without shareholders present, leaving its dividend
proposal of 2.75 Swiss francs ($2.81) per share unchanged.
 FWN2BC21G 
   
    ZURICH INSURANCE  ZURN.S 
    The company said it would go ahead with its annual general
meeting on April 1 without shareholders present, keeping to its
dividend proposal.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2BD03M
        
    AMS  AMS.S   AMS.VI  
    Austrian sensor specialist AMS  AMS.S   AMS.VI  said on
Thursday that its public offer for German lighting group Osram
 OSRn.DE  was expected to close in the second quarter.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2BC1I4
    
    COMPANY STATEMENTS
    * Glarner Kantonalbank  GLKBN.S  said it was providing CHF
15 million to bridge liquidity bottlenecks. It also said it was
sticking to the announced date for the general meeting of April
24 but due to coronavirus shareholders would only be able to
exercise rights in writing or electronically through independent
proxy.
    * Mobilezone  MOZN.S  said it had reduced the number of
shops that are open for business from 120 to 80 for now.
    * Interroll Holding  INRN.S  reported full year net sales of
CHF 559.7 million.
    * Implenia  IMPN.S  said it was restricting work on its
construction sites and closing some sites altogether.
    * DKSH Holding  DKSH.S  said it would reconvene the annual
general meeting on 13 May 2020.
    * Warteck Invest  WARN.S  reported full yea group profit of
CHF 34.1 million.
    * Aluflexpack  AFPD.S  reported full year EBITDA rose to EUR
29.5 Million.
    * Feintool International Holding AG  FTON.S  expects a
temporary production decline due to coronavirus.
    * Flughafen Zuerich  FHZN.S  said flight operations and
activities in commercial centers were reduced to a minimum and
it was taking necessary steps to preserve liquidity. 
    * Meier Tobler Group  METG.S  said participation on site at
its 2020 annual general meeting was not possible and voting
would take place via independent proxy.
    * Senioresidenz  SENIO.BN  said it had decided to hold the
annual general meeting at the company's headquarters and
shareholders entered in share register had the option of
independent proxy.
     
    ANALYSTS' VIEWS
    * KUEHNE UND NAGEL INTERNATIONAL AG  KNIN.S : JEFFERIES CUTS
TARGET PRICE TO CHF 125 FROM CHF 140
    * SWATCH GROUP AG  UHR.S : JP MORGAN CUTS TARGET PRICE TO
CHF 225 FROM CHF 275
    * CASSIOPEA SPA  SKIN.S : JEFFERIES CUTS PRICE TARGET TO SFR
65 FROM SFR 70. CREDIT SUISSE CUTS TARGET PRICE TO CHF 65 FROM
CHF 70
    * MOLECULAR PARTNERS AG  MOLN.S : RBC CUTS TARGET PRICE TO
CHF 37 FROM CHF 42
    
    ECONOMY
    No economic data scheduled.


($1 = 0.9790 Swiss francs)

 (Reporting by Zurich newsroom and Berlin Speed Desk)
 ((+41 58 306 7336; zurich.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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