The Swiss franc was little changed against the US dollar in early trade on Monday after a meeting of the Group of Seven economic powers failed to inspire market sentiment and ahead of fresh Swiss economic data. The statement from the meeting of G7 finance chiefs in Japan over the weekend only repeated a 14-month-old call that "more flexibility in exchange rates is desirable", viewed as a thinly veiled reference to China's pegged yuan.
The dollar took little notice, changing hands at 1.2020/23 Swiss francs in early European trading, virtually unchanged from 1.2024/28 francs late on Friday in Europe. The euro traded at 1.5493/01 francs, from 1.5530/35 francs on Friday.
Swiss producer and import prices data for March may give clues about future consumer price inflation in Switzerland.
UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said that the latest set of Swiss economic indicators pointed towards a stabilisation of business activity in early 2005. At the start of the month, data showed that the Swiss purchasing managers' index for March rose by more than had been expected by economists.