Fears had weighed on shares of airlines and cruise lines and dragged down major indexes after US health officials announced up to 40 cases of swine flu in five US states.

Oil prices also opened sharply lower in the morning as investors worried that swine flu would further drag down the global economy. Crude futures in the New York market dropped to as low as US$48.01 a barrel in the intraday session.

Meanwhile, fears of a rampant outbreak of the fatal virus sent investors flocking to the US dollar for safe haven.

By the end of the regular trading time on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, dollar rate against euro has soared more than 2 cents to US$1.3021 and the dollar index rose about 1 point.

The only beneficiaries were drug-makers. Humana Inc., the second-biggest provider of US-backed medical benefits, jumped after profit more than doubled.

CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co. advanced on speculation that the spread of swine flu will boost sales of pharmaceuticals.

In an effort to ease the panic, US President Barack Obama said the threat of the swine flu infections was cause for concern but "not a cause for alarm."

His administration said it was too soon to determine the potential economic impact and officials with the US Treasury Department were monitoring the situation.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2009)