Swiss franc holds ground before welter of US data

The Swiss franc held recent gains on the dollar and the euro in early trade as players paused before a batch of US economic data due later on Friday, hoping for clues as to the direction of US interest rate policy.
The dollar was little changed at 1.2576/80 francs from 1.2580/85 late on Thursday in Europe. The euro held steady at 1.5377/83 francs compared with 1.5385/88.
Dealers said the focus was on whether the US Federal Reserve would boost key rates again in September after raising its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage point this week.
The market will take a look at US economic reports including producer prices, trade figures, and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.
The data could come in under market expectations, this would likely trigger fresh doubts about the shape of the US economy and put pressure on the dollar, they said.