Swiss Franc Rates Today: GBP/CHF Exchange Rate Advances after Upbeat UK Retail Sales

November 11, 2014 - Written by Toni Johnson

STORY LINK Swiss Franc Rates Today: GBP/CHF Exchange Rate Advances after Upbeat UK Retail Sales

The UK Pound to Swiss Franc exchaneg rate (GBP/CHF) climbed after UK retail sales showed improvement in October.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) announced that sales had stagnated on the year in October following the annual decline of -2.1% recorded in September, bypassing economists’ expectations of a further -0.5% drop.

Meanwhile, the Swiss Franc is being watched carefully as it’s nearing its 1.2000 floor against the Euro (CHF/EUR).

Here are the current forex rates today:

The Pound to Swiss Franc exchange rate today is converting +0.1 per cent higher at 1.53579 GBP/CHF.
The Euro to Swiss Franc exchange rate converts +0.04 per cent higher at 1 EUR is 1.20335 CHF.
The US Dollar to Swiss Franc exchange rate today is converting -0.34 per cent lower at 0.96469 USD/CHF.

Pound Rate Today: UK Retail Sales Offer Sterling Support

The UK has released mixed data in recent months which has seen the Pound yo-yo. Tuesday’s favourable BRC Like-For-Like Sales figures have offered Sterling some support against other majors in an extremely quiet start to the week.

Purchases of furniture and Halloween costumes helped boost the October figure, pulling it out of contraction territory.

BRC Director General Helen Dickinson commented: ‘Retailers preparation around stocking items required for Halloween celebrations such as costumes of characters from animation feature films for children, meant a significant year-on-year increase in Halloween related sales.’

However, retailers have been left with a large amount of winter stock to shift as the warmer weather has seen winter fashion sales suffer. Industry expert David McCorquodale commented: ‘Sadly, this warmer weather has left many fashion retailers with a substantial stock overhang, raising the question of earlier and deeper discounts as we get closer to Christmas. Retailers need a nippy November to help them sell their winter stock before the season’s out.’

Swiss Franc Exchange Rate Likely to Fluctuate on Swiss Gold Referendum

Meanwhile, the Swiss Franc is trading within a very quiet week for Swiss data, which will see movement in the currency dependent on global developments and Eurozone news.

The upcoming gold referendum, to be held on November 30th, could see the Swiss National Bank (SNB) take further measures to keep the currency cap in place.

If a ‘Yes’ vote wins at the referendum, the SNB will be forced to maintain 20% of its reserves in gold with no-sale rule. At present, the SNB holds 7.8% of its reserves in Swiss gold.

The Swiss People’s Party has enforced the initiative (Save Our Swiss Gold), but the SNB has voiced its opposition to this scheme. The central bank claims gold won’t prove an effective monetary policy tool and instead wants to continue holding liquid currencies which can be utilised for foreign exchange interventions.

GBP/CHF Forecast:

In terms of upcoming data, Wednesday could be a highly influential day for the Pound to Swiss Franc exchange rate. UK Average Weekly Earnings, Claimant Count Rate, Employment Change, Unemployment Rate, Jobless Claims Change and Weekly Earnings figures will all be out, as will the Bank of England’s (BoE) Inflation Report.

It is hoped that the Inflation Report will offer direction to the timeframe regarding interest rate hikes in the UK. Any talk on the prospect of increased borrowing costs will encourage the Pound to rally. However, it is expected that inflation forecasts will be cut, resulting in a prolonged period of low interest rates and subsequent Sterling softness.

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