The Swiss franc hovered near one-month highs against the dollar on Wednesday as the greenback lost across the board after strong economic data and easing concerns about unrest in Egypt. The greenback is in striking distance of its record low against the franc of 0.9301 hit late last year.
Earlier in the session, the dollar dipped to 0.9326, the lowest since early January. The franc was last up 0.1 percent at 0.9349 per dollar. Meanwhile, the franc was flat against the euro compared to the New York close, trading at 1.2937 per euro at 0733 GMT.
Strong US manufacturing numbers fuelled optimism on global economic growth, with expectations of continued loose US monetary policy further encouraging risk-taking. UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said a surprise to the downside on Swiss retail sales on Tuesday was counterbalanced by a smaller dip than expected fall in the Swiss purchasing managers' index. "We get the impression that the Swiss economy is off to a very decent start into the year '11, indeed, irrespective of the latest strengthening of the franc," he said in a note.