The Swiss franc stayed off the 10-month peak on Wednesday hit versus the euro two days earlier, with the market grappling with the rising chance the Swiss central bank might intervene and force the franc down. New Swiss National bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand reminded markets on January 11 the central bank was committed to preventing any "excessive" rise in the franc after the Swiss unit spiralled to 1.4721 per euro, its strongest since March 2009.
The franc was little changed on Wednesday against the euro compared to the New York close, trading at 1.4761 per euro. The franc was also little changed against the dollar at 1.0183 per dollar. "Although we still think that the SNB has no explicit exchange rate target, the appreciation trend of the Swiss franc since December 2009 has clearly increased the risk of FX intervention," Credit Suisse analysts said in a note.