The Swiss franc rose against the euro on Friday, with the single currency broadly weaker as hopes dimmed European Union leaders at a summit would come up with a credible borrowing scheme to deal with the bloc's debt crisis. European leaders failed to reach an agreement on giving a banking license to the euro zone's permanent bailout fund, limiting its firepower.
Market participants had been eyeing the outcome of the summit, hoping decision-makers might come up with a viable scheme to prevent further trouble for countries such as Italy. European stock index futures pointed to a lower open, due to market disappointment. The franc was 0.3 percent firmer against the euro compared with the New York close, trading at 1.2322. It was virtually flat against the dollar at 0.9266.
The franc has been rangebound the euro since the SNB on September 6 imposed a cap of 1.20 per euro after the soaring Swissie threatened to push the economy into recession. The SNB holds its next policy review on December 15, and some economists have speculated the SNB could announce a shift in its cap to 1.25 or 1.30 then.