Swiss franc bounces versus dollar after US jobs data

09 Aug, 2005

The Swiss franc firmed a touch against the dollar on Monday, clawing back some of its losses after stronger-than-expected US jobs data boosted the greenback on Friday. The dollar climbed across the board at the end of last week as official data showed a total of 207,000 new non-farm payroll jobs were created in July, beating an economist median forecast of 183,000.
The data underpinned views that robust economic growth in the world's business engine will support further interest rate hikes there, supporting the dollar.
The Fed has raised its key funds rate at nine straight policy meetings since June 2004, lifting it to 3.25 percent. A 25 basis point increase is widely expected at its meeting on Tuesday.
The dollar last traded at 1.2646/52 Swiss francs, a touch lower than the 1.2665/70 hit in late trading in Europe after the jobs data on Friday.
The euro was trading at 1.5605/08 francs, from 1.5609/11 francs on Friday.
In Switzerland, July jobless data are due at 0545 GMT and will give investors another glimpse of the state of the economy after recent data suggested a pick-up could be round the corner.

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