Pound to Swiss Franc Exchange Rate Today: GBP to CHF Firms on inflation data

October 8, 2014 - Written by David Woodsmith

STORY LINK Pound to Swiss Franc Exchange Rate Today: GBP to CHF Firms on inflation data

The British Pound to Swiss Franc exchange rate (GBP/CHF) pushed higher this week after the Alpine currency was weighed upon by the release of weaker than forecast inflation data.

Currency News UK brings you our latest Pound to Swiss Franc exchange rate news, comment and forecast for the GBP to CHF.

Before we do though, here's the latest forex conversion rates:

The Swiss Franc to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading down -0.28% at 1.18542 CHF/AUD.
The Swiss Franc to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.48% at 1.16763 CHF/CAD.
The Swiss Franc to Euro exchange rate is trading up +0.06% at 0.82503 CHF/EUR.
The Swiss Franc to Pound Sterling exchange rate is trading up +0.11% at 0.64933 CHF/GBP.
The Swiss Franc to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.26% at 1.33465 CHF/NZD.
The Swiss Franc to US Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.24% at 1.04504 CHF/USD.

Data released early in Tuesday’s session showed that Swiss consumer prices fell from the previous year for the first time since February 2014 after they were pulled lower by a decline in the value of oil and imports.

According to the Federal Statistics Office, Consumer prices fell by 0.1% from the preceding year.

Prices on a monthly basis were higher by 0.1% compared to the previous month.

Deflationary pressure came from abroad, with the price of goods imported by Switzerland falling by 1.2% compared to the same month last year, while domestic goods prices posted growth of 0.3%.

Economists do not expect the Swiss national bank to take action when it comes to interest rates as a result of the data as long as domestic prices remain sturdy.

‘This is just a marginal drop below zero level...Overall, this shouldn’t be over interpreted. We still don’t expect the SNB to depart from its monetary policy,’ said economist Maxime Botteron.

The cause for the decline is from the weakness of the Eurozone, Switzerland’s largest trading partner. With industrial production data out of Germany, coming in well below economists’ forecasts there is a real concern that the 18-member currency bloc could slide back into recession by the end of the year.

‘The trend is pointing down, with the German economy in the third quarter likely to have stagnated at best,’ said an economist.

Further losses for the Swiss Franc were restrained however after the latest Swiss Retail Sales data came in strongly.

In a report compiled by the Swiss Federal Statistics Office, retail sales in the nation increased at an annualised rate of 1.9% in August, smashing forecasts for a figure of 0.7%. The data increased optimism that the Swiss economy is riding out the weakness being seen in the Eurozone.

Retail sales growth in July was revised to a decline of 0.3% from a previously reported drop of 0.6%.

Sterling came under pressure after the latest domestic data showed that the UK’s Manufacturing sector grew by just 0.1%.

“UK manufacturing is entering a soft patch as the fall-out from events in Ukraine spreads. Ukraine and Russia are of little direct importance to UK exporters. However, the manufacturing cycle is highly integrated across countries. That means the decline in business confidence and German manufacturing output triggered by Russia’s aggression in Eastern Ukraine will continue to spread to the UK over the second half of the year,” said Rob Wood, Economist at Berenberg.

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