The Swiss franc advanced against its most major counterparts in European trading on Thursday, as weak earnings results from Roche Holding and Hennes & Mauritz bolstered appeal of safe-haven assets. Investors became nervous after the Fed gave little indications over the future of rate path in its latest policy statement.
The Fed indicated that it is “closely monitoring” developments in global economies and markets, but didn’t give any clues regarding change of plan to tighten monetary policy this year.
Speaking to Swiss regional daily Corriere del Ticino, the Swiss National Bank Governing Board Vice Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg said that Switzerland would have incurred higher costs to maintain the CHF 1.20 per euro exchange rate as the European Central Bank’s stimulus measures weaken the euro, and hence, it was an apt decision to scrap the ceiling a year ago.
“It was the right decision at the right time,” the policymaker said.
The franc showed mixed trading against its major rivals in European deals. While the franc declined against the euro, greenback and the yen, it held steady against the pound.
In European deals, the franc firmed to a 2-day high of 1.0129 against the greenback and a 6-day high of 117.35 against the yen, off its early lows of 1.0177 and 116.56, respectively. On the upside, the franc is likely to find resistance around 1.00 against the greenback and 118.00 against the yen.
The franc that fell to more than a 1-year low of 1.1080 against the euro in early deals, edged up to 1.1046. If the franc extends rise, it may challenge resistance around the 1.08 zone.
On the flip side, the franc declined to 1.4551 against the pound, and held steady thereafter. At yesterday’s close, the pair was worth 1.4444.
Looking ahead, preliminary German inflation data for January, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended January 23 and U.S. durable goods orders and pending home sales data, both for December, are set to be published in the New York session.
At 1:00 pm ET, German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann is expected to speak at the Internationaler Club La Redoute in Bonn, Germany.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com