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Stock exchange woes hit UBS and Swiss Re hard

The Swiss stock exchange reported further losses on Tuesday , with banks – notably UBS – and insurance companies particularly hit.

The share price of Switzerland’s largest bank had fallen by more than 20 per cent in late afternoon trading to about SFr16 ($14.4) after losing 14.5 per cent in value on Monday.

UBS shares have lost more than 65 per cent of their value this year and are down 34 per cent in the past week alone.

Shares were also down at Credit Suisse (about seven per cent) and at Bank Julius Bär (more than three per cent), as markets around the world continued to react to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank and to problems at the AIG insurance company in the United States.

The share price of the world’s largest reinsurance company, Swiss Re, also took a hammering, falling by 15 per cent, while falls were also recorded at other insurance companies listed on the Swiss Market Index of blue chips – Bâloise, Swiss Life and Zurich Financial Services.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR