Swedish police Friday denied a report that they were holding a man suspected of killing Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, whose death Thursday after being stabbed in a department store shocked the nation.

As flowers piled up on the spot where the mystery killer stabbed Lindh Wednesday, analysts and markets were betting that her murder would bolster the flagging "Yes" campaign in Sunday's referendum on whether Sweden joins the euro.

Police denied a report in the newspaper Aftonbladet that they had identified a 32-year-old drug addict as a key suspect.

"We arrested the man yesterday evening but after we talked to him he is of no interest to us any more," police spokesman Bjorn Pihlblad told Reuters. "We have ruled him out."

"We sent the knife to our lab in Linkoping to look for fingerprints, but we have no answer yet," he said. "We have 10 to 15 people that we wan to talk to and check them up."

The hugely popular Lindh, 46, was one of the most outspoken supporters of the euro and there was speculation in the media that the murderer may have been enraged by her stand.

The fact that her murderer remains on the loose has been a painful reminder to Swedes of the unsolved assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986.

Thousands of people are expected to join a rally led by Prime Minister Goran Persson in Stockholm at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), one of several being held across the nation to show unanimity in rejecting violence and embracing democracy.

"I want everyone to go vote in Sunday's referendum... Violence will not prevail," Persson told the nation Thursday. He said all parties had decided to go ahead with the vote despite Lindh's death after hours of surgery Thursday.

Politicians from both sides of the acrimonious euro debate appealed to Swedes to vote Sunday but parties called off campaigning.

As pro-euro bus stop posters featuring Lindh turned into shrines, the crown hit a three-month high Thursday, with markets pricing in a slightly higher chance of an upset by the "Yes" camp -- lagging in all opinion polls since April.

"The shocking murder...has added a major level of uncertainty to the outcome of the referendum," investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a research note. "We believe the prospects for a 'Yes' outcome have risen."

People threw roses on a one-meter (three-foot) high pile of flowers in front of the central Stockholm department store where Lindh was attacked. Dozens of Swedes, many crying, lit candles and queued to sign condolence books Thursday night.

"It feels good to be here among other people who are mourning," said Anders Bostrom, an IT consultant. "We can only hope they catch him. It sure would make things easier."

Police searched hostels and other lodgings in Stockholm, and were looking for fingerprints from the handrail on the escalator in the store, down which the killer fled.

Stockholm police spokesman Mats Nylen told Reuters they were looking for a man described by witnesses as about 30 years old, stout, dishevelled and clean-shaven with shoulder-length dark hair and bad skin.

A psychiatrist who has helped police profile criminals in other investigations said Lindh's strong support for the euro may have led to her murder.

Politicians across the globe paid tribute to Lindh, a human rights activist tipped as a future prime minister.

Married with two children, Lindh became foreign minister in 1998 after a stellar career in the Social Democratic party which has ruled Sweden for six of the last seven decades.

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