Swiss franc holds steady

13 May, 2006

The Swiss franc flirted with one-year highs against the dollar on Friday after worries about a near-end to US interest rate tightening slammed the greenback and ahead of a quarterly economic study by Swiss think tank KOF.
The franc reached a fresh year-high against the greenback of 1.2087 francs per dollar on Thursday as investors bet that the Federal Reserve could take a break from its rate tightening cycle following Wednesday's hike.
Data on Thursday showed Swiss consumers have turned more confident since the start of the year, pushing the consumer sentiment index to +7 points in April from +2 in January, its highest in almost five years.
Swiss think tank KOF will release later in the session its quarterly survey of companies in industry, the building and service sectors that forms part of the monthly leading indicator.
The KOF has said it expects the Swiss $350 billion economy to grow by 2.1 percent this year and by 1.9 percent in 2007.
The franc traded virtually unchanged at 1.5578 per euro, while it rose slightly against the greenback to 1.2113 per dollar from 1.2133 on the previous close.

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