In London trading, the Swiss Franc struck a 2-week trough versus both the U.S. Dollar and the common currency Euro on speculation that the central bank might be intervening again to weaken the Swiss currency, and that the governing council of the Swiss National Bank had, in fact, determined a new “target” trading range. According to one newspaper in Switzerland, the SNB has set a range of 1.05 to 1.10 Swiss Francs to the Euro, well off the recent “official” cap of 1.20 Swiss Francs. Thus far the SNB has not commented on the rumor.
As reported at 8:52 am (GMT) in London, the CHF/EUR was trading at 1.05800 Swiss Francs, a gain of 1.9%, while the CHF/USD was trading higher at 0.9345 Swiss Francs, a similar gain of about 1.9%. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.13155, a rise of about 0.35% on the backs of a PMI report which showed improvements in manufacturing growth in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Greece Pushes New Debt Deal at Troika
Analysts say that the Euro’s gains could be limited given that the Greek political problem has yet to resolve; the Greek Prime Minister has put in front of the “Troika” a new debt deal to replace the current one but thus far there does not seem to be any agreement among the parties.