Swiss currency weaker on intervention

Story link: Swiss currency weaker on intervention

The Swiss franc was weaker again Friday as the Swiss National Bank continued to intervene to weaken the currency, taking the Swiss currency to its biggest weekly decline versus the euro since 1999.

The intervention came after the franc’s value had risen enough to make Swiss products less competitive in European and US markets.

Manufacturing activity has contracted in Switzerland while unemployment is at its highest in over two years.

In late morning trade in New York, the Swiss currency traded at SFr1.5317 to the euro while it was at SFr1.188 to the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars saw gains in relation to the US dollar as investors became more willing to make risky currency trades on gains in equities markets, and on indications from both China and Japan that more money for stimulus spending could be on the way.

The Aussie was worth 65.69 cents US while it took 52.34 cents US to buy a New Zealand dollar.

The yen weakened again on concerns that Japan’s recession could be deepening, leaving the Japanese currency to trade at ¥126.3151 to the euro and at ¥97.97 to the US dollar.