Swiss stocks hold steady as U.S. tariffs kick in

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Swiss blue-chip stocks were little changed on Thursday, keeping clear of this week's near-four month lows, after a 39% tariff on U.S. imports of Swiss products went into effect.

Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter left Washington empty-handed on Wednesday, without meeting U.S. President Donald Trump or any of his top trade officials, a source earlier told Reuters.

Her proposal for a 10% tariff rate was rejected by U.S. officials, the source added.

The Swiss blue-chip index .SSMI was up 0.1% at 0730 GMT, compared with a 0.11% rise for Europe-wide STOXX 600 .STOXX index. The index hit its lowest since late April

Some of the bad news on tariffs was already in the price, and Switzerland might still try to find a better solution, Torsten Sauter from Kepler Cheuvreux said.

"The companies that are listed in Switzerland, they have often a natural hedge or they have a unique product that they can raise prices on," he noted, adding as well that pharmaceuticals exports were excluded from the tariffs.

The Federal Council of Switzerland will hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday afternoon.

A 39% rate threatens to inflict major damage on Switzerland's export-orientated economy by reducing access to its biggest overseas market for its watches, machinery and chocolate, economists have warned.

Aside from the steep tariff rate, Swiss exporters face a double whammy of stronger franc CHF=EBS and a disadvantage compared companies in European Union, Japan, or South Korea, which all face a baseline tariff of 15%.

The franc firmed in European trading, leaving the dollar down 0.2% on the day at 0.8049 francs. The Swiss currency has gained around 11% in value so far this year, making it one of the best-performing major currencies against the dollar.