Swiss franc regains some ground

01 Dec, 2005

The Swiss franc regained a little ground against the dollar in early trading on Wednesday, but the US currency continued to hold its recent highs amid expectations US interest rates will continue to rise.
The greenback was given a boost in the previous session by US data which showed that durable goods orders and new home sales in October and consumer confidence in November all came in stronger than expected, stoking rate rise expectations.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to tighten rates by a quarter point in December and again in January, according to economists.
Swiss consumer prices came in lower than expected on Wednesday as the elevated cost of petrol and heating oil began to recede.
The year-on-year inflation rate came in at 1.0 percent in November, while consumer prices fell 0.3 percent compared to October.
The dollar fell slightly to 1.3126/28 Swiss francs compared with 1.3164/69 in late trading in Europe on Tuesday, while the euro was steady at 1.5476/79 francs compared to 1.5479/84 the day before.
Third-quarter US growth data and the US index of manufacturing activity in November is expected to provide further evidence of economic strength later in the session.

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