The Swiss franc strengthened against the yen in early Friday trading and was flat versus the dollar and the euro ahead of a speech of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke later in the day. Currency moves were stifled as traders awaited clues from Bernanke about where US rates are headed.
The franc was up 0.2 percent versus the Japanese currency at 94.24 yen. Japan's currency slipped after weaker-than-expected consumer price data reinforced views that Japanese interest rates will rise only slowly, keeping the yen at a disadvantage over higher-yielding currencies.
The franc stood almost unchanged from Thursday's close versus the dollar at 1.2376 per dollar, after the Greenback had risen in the previous session despite weak US economic data.
The franc was also flat versus the euro at 1.5812 per euro. "The tug of war between EURCHF bulls and bears goes into the next round," UBS analysts wrote in a note. "Following a week of fairly active trading we are back to levels just above 1.58 just like last Friday."
Analysts now wait for the KOF business expectations indicator and the Swiss PMI both due next week for clues on Swiss growth and its implications for the Swiss National Bank's monetary policy.