Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on June 18

ZURICH, June 18 (Reuters) - Swiss shares are set tick higher at the open, mirroring gains on Wall Street and in Asia.

The Swiss blue-chip index SMI.SSMI was indicated to open 8 points higher at 6,482 points, premarket data provided by bank Clariden Leu showed.CLPRE

The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks on Friday:

UBS (UBSN.VX)

UBS may have to double its own capital if Swiss regulators put the reforms currently under discussion to prevent banks from becoming 'too big to fail' into place, UBS' chief Oswald Gruebel said.

For related news, click on [UBSN.VX]

NOVARTIS (NOVN.VX)

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG won wider U.S. approval for its leukemia drug Tasigna to treat a rare form of the blood cancer at an earlier stage of the disease, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday.

In a separate release on Friday, the group said a new phase II study in gout patients shows its ACZ885 drug prevented acute flares better than standard anti-inflammatory therapy.

For related news, click on [NOVN.VX]

ROCHE (ROG.VX)

Roche said new data showed that arthritis drug Actemra is highly effective in improving the signs and symptoms of systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (sJIA), a severe childhood arthritis, where there are no currently licensed treatments.

A separate release stated that a promising diabetes drug being developed by Roche (ROG.VX), under license from France's Ipsen (IPN.PA), faces a delay of at least 12 to 18 months due to a change in clinical trial protocols.

For related news, click on [ROG.VX]

NESTLE (NESN.VX)

Nestle said it completed its 25 billion Swiss franc share buyback programme and said it intended to start on 29 June 2010 a new share buyback programme of 10 billion, as announced in January 2010, subject to market conditions and strategic opportunities.

For related news, click on [NESN.VX]

ECONOMY [M-CH]

* The KOF research institute updates its growth and inflation forecasts for Switzerland; due at 0930 GMT

COMPANY STATEMENTS [CNR-CH]

* Crealogix (CLXN.S) announces new business units and change in group management [CLXN.S]

EQUITY RESEARCH [CH-RCH]

FOR COMPANIES TRADING EX-DIVIDEND, PLEASE CLICK ON:

.EX.S for all Swiss stocks

.EXSMI.S for blue chips

.EXNSMI.S for other stocks